California Congressman Devin Nunes, in this morning’s New York Times: “Global warming is nonsense,” Mr. Nunes said. He criticized the federal government for shutting off portions of California’s system of water irrigation and storage, and diverting water into a program for freshwater salmon. “There was plenty of water. This has nothing to do with drought. …
Given the tension from Texas’s legal complaints against New Mexico regarding the impact of New Mexico groundwater pumping on Texas Rio Grande supply (see Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado), this El Paso Water Utilities pump house feels to some like a middle finger raised in New Mexico’s direction. It’s just inside the Texas border, …
As we watch Californians floundering over drought, or sometimes not floundering, it’s worth revisiting Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons. In it, Ostrom tells the story of communities in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles, coming together to manage their groundwater at a time when a race to the bottom was underway that, absent …
Continue reading ‘Losing the groundwater pumping race to the bottom: your choice’ »
Here at Inkstain, we’ve long believed that our drought and water coverage has suffered from a lack of Lady Gaga-related items. Today, thanks to the LA Times, we can correct this shortcoming. The story, fittingly enough, involves Hearst Castle and what is apparently a leaking swimming pool: [P]ark officials and the singer came up with …
Government interests in perpetuating traditions, shielding state matters from federal interference, and favoring one model of parenting over others must yield to this country’s cherished protections that ensure the exercise of the private choices of the individual citizen regarding love and family. Ultimately, this is consistent with our nation’s traditions of freedom. “[T]he history of our Constitution … is …
Continue reading ‘Some fine lawyer language in the Virginia marriage ruling’ »
And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way. John Steinbeck, in East of Eden This famous quote came up today in Circle of Blue‘s conference call/seminar on California drought. …
I love the old steel girder bridges. They really feel like they’re getting you somewhere, like you’re not taking the crossing for granted.
From the morning paper, Norm Gaume’s critique of a proposal to divert water from the Gila: New Mexico is overestimating the amount of water available from a proposed Gila River diversion and underestimating the cost and technical difficulty of the project, according to the former head of the state agency involved. The project, as currently …
Continue reading ‘Stuff I wrote elsewhere: a critique of the Gila diversion’ »
Economist Bryan Caplan, doing an AMA, on drought policy: Q: With the drought in Southern California is it possible the state is over populated? Meaning we have to halt immigration into the south west? A: No. Just raise the price of water!
Danger. Journalist doing math. There be dragons: Otowi is the Rio Grande’s gateway to central New Mexico. Located between Santa Fe and Los Alamos, it’s the point where the river has picked up pretty much all the snowmelt it’s going to get, absent some minor contributions from the Jemez Mountains. It’s also a key point …