Albuquerque’s water use continues to decline

The decoupling between water use and economic and population growth continues in Albuquerque, where we’ve cut per capita water use by more than half since the mid-1990s: Albuquerque endured a hot, dry summer this year. Temperatures are still above average, and the monsoon season never made a big splash. But that hasn’t stopped the city …

Continue reading ‘Albuquerque’s water use continues to decline’ »

More Colorado River “grand bargain” buzz

There was more buzz this week at two big Colorado River Basin events about the idea of a “grand bargain” to deal with coming collisions between water overallocation and the Law of the River. The idea crept into the title of the Water Education Foundation’s 2019 Santa Fe Symposium – “Can We Build a Bridge …

Continue reading ‘More Colorado River “grand bargain” buzz’ »

“I speak in numbers.”- Eric Kuhn

I’m having a bad FOMO day today, watching John Orr’s Twitter feed from the Colorado River District’s fall seminar, being held today in Grand Junction: @R_EricKuhn : I speak in numbers. Let’s look at the hydrology of rivers. The history is quite important. I worked on the book with @jfleck. #crdas2019 #ColoradoRiver #COriver #aridification pic.twitter.com/A0IIKjq66A …

Continue reading ‘“I speak in numbers.”- Eric Kuhn’ »

All I Want is an Accurate Colorado River Map

  A guest post by Doug Kenney, University of Colorado In recent months, we’ve probably all encountered a dozen or more articles reflecting on the 150-year anniversary of the Colorado River voyage of John Wesley Powell.  It’s a story coming from the tail end of an era when map-makers used to be among the most …

Continue reading ‘All I Want is an Accurate Colorado River Map’ »

Las Vegas Bay: a path into the story of the Colorado River

I’m talking with University of New Mexico Water Resources Program students about the Colorado River this week, and pulling together some readings I had occasion to revisit the opening of The New Book: The boat ramp at Las Vegas Bay, once a shimmering recreation mecca on the shores of Lake Mead, now ends in a …

Continue reading ‘Las Vegas Bay: a path into the story of the Colorado River’ »

Moving beyond the “water wars” frame

To speak of ‘war’ is to invoke images of militaries, violent conflict and destruction on a grand scale. Although we do not deny that water can be a factor – one among many – in some conflicts and mainly at intra-state level, we question why this drift towards water ‘securitisation’ at this time? To align …

Continue reading ‘Moving beyond the “water wars” frame’ »

More talk of a Colorado River climate change “grand bargain”

The Denver Post’s Bruce Finley took a deep dive in today’s paper into the idea of a Colorado River “grand bargain” that might trade off the Lower Basin’s right to make a “call” on the river if flows at Lee’s Ferry drop against an Upper Basin cap on future development: The grand bargain concept arose …

Continue reading ‘More talk of a Colorado River climate change “grand bargain”’ »