Between the USGS, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Library of Congress, Calisphere and others, there are so many great old Colorado River photos around that it’s easy to think the early history of the river’s development happened in black and white. I get lost in them. Today’s treasure is a photo from the 1923 Birdseye …
Continue reading ‘River Beat: LaRue and the Question of How Much Water There Really Was’ »
When Zach Sharp sent me a copy of his paper in yesterday’s Science Express, I only had to get to the words “moon rocks” to decide to do a story. I mean, they’re moon rocks. Zach, a stable isotope geochemist, is a bit of a mad scientist. So even without moon rocks, his work is …
A letter to the editor in this morning’s Albuquerque Journal has removed the scales from my eyes: The City Council recently turned down a proposal to restrict the rights of homeowners’ associations to require grass in residential landscapes. Grass has been made to seem like a culprit because of the amount of water it uses …
When I was in Copenhagen a month ago, out walking in the evening, I came across a pair of buskers, folks singers, doing The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” I’ve always loved it, thought of it as a great American song. It was fun to stand in a square with a bunch …
When I was in Vegas in April, I heard several talks on the way folks on Lake Mead engage in a practice they call “chasing water”. As the water storage reservoir recedes, the Park Service extends boat ramps farther and farther. The owners of the Las Vegas Marina, which used to sit up in Las …
I had a dream last night that the Native Americans we drove out of South Florida left a sort of time bomb that, in time, would render Miami unlivable: In White’s view, it’s already too late to turn back the clock on climate change to save low-lying coastal cities like Miami.
You would think that on the over-appropriated Lower Colorado River, downstream from dwindling Lake Mead, getting by on less water would be a good thing. But this little news blurb from KXO radio in El Centro, in California’s Imperial Valley, suggests otherwise. The problem, apparently, is that the Imperial Irrigation District, the largest water rights …
Continue reading ‘The Imperial Irrigation District’s Problem – LA Might Get the Water!’ »
A spambot recently left the following comment on one of my water posts: water conservation should be done because we are already having some water shortage these days It was accompanied by a link to a web site apparently selling products intended to alleviate gastrointestinal distress. Less flushing, I guess?
This was the best nighthawk week I’ve had in my yet young birding career. I’ve sort of vaguely watched birds since I was a kid, something I picked up from my mother. When Lissa and I got married, mom and dad passed on their Peterson’s guide, and we made a tradition of taking it with …
Michael Campana prodded me a bit this morning on Waterwired regarding a discussion happening here and elsewhere about the possibility of abandoning Phoenix as the place runs out of water. It’s a strong meme, and it comes up frequently among those who recognize the fragile nature of cities of the desert southwest as growth-fueled water …
Continue reading ‘Why I Don’t Think We’ll Abandon Phoenix’ »