When we talk about water scarcity in the western United States, it’s usually a conversation couched in acre feet of water and groundwater regulation and the Lake Mead bathtub ring and gallons per capita per day. But a dive into the data as I was cleaning up one of the chapters in my book-to-be reminded …
87 years ago today in Colorado River water management history, water apparently was for fightin’ over: POLICE CALLED TO STOP BATTLE IN STATE HOUSE Affair Outcome of Argument Between Governor and Senator on River LIVELY MELEE HAS MANY PARTICIPANTS Gov. Hunt Declares Blow Received from Opponent Was “Purely Accidental” PHOENIX, Ariz., Nov. 26 – …
Surface-water supply reductions (relative to current agricultural surface-water use) range from 20 percent to more than 75 percent across areas of the Mountain, Pacific, and Plains regions in 2080. The most severe declines occur in the middle and lower Colorado River Basin under virtually all scenarios, while other river systems with headwaters in the central …
Continue reading ‘A grim forecast for Colorado River Basin ag under climate change’ »
The Elwha river on Washington’s Olympic peninsula, newly undammed: OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — The Elwha River flexed its new muscles during the most recent round of storms and severely damaged Olympic Hot Springs Road and effectively buried a campground in silt.
Brett Walton’s Circle of Blue update on the Interior Department’s upcoming Gila River diversion decision suggests we should expect a “yes” from Secretary Jewell tomorrow on a decision to proceed with a lot of inconclusive studies of the super-expensive project that will almost certainly never be built but that will be an intense environmental and …
Continue reading ‘Gila River diversion decision: “Reply hazy. Try again.”’ »
Amid the litany of the apocalypse, with the pictures of fallowed farm fields and dead fish and trees and cracked mud, here are five pieces of good news on western water, both on the supply side and on the demand side. 1. Colorado River Basin storage is up Total storage in the Colorado River …
Continue reading ‘Five pieces of good news for water in the western United States’ »
Daniel Polk, an anthropologist now based at Stanford’s Lane Center has an interesting post looking at the question of our perceptions of the Salton Sea – natural or not? The lake demonstrates that the “natural” is a fluid and not fixed term. Proponents of the Salton Sea often emphasize the natural qualities of the lake. …
From a new Public Policy Institute of California white paper on water allocation reforms: Regions with drought-prone climates need reliable accounting of water availability and use. Authoritative water accounting is a foundation for the transparent, reliable, timely administration (and, if necessary, curtailment) of water rights, management of groundwater, and water trading. This drought spotlighted serious …
One of my early ideas for a western water book was going to be called “The Last Concrete”, telling the story of the last big water project to be built in the western United States. But this is a dilemma, because which will it be? And how do we know the others lingering on the …
An excellent Laura Paskus story this weekend on a new climate water risk study by Justin Mankin at Lamont-Doherty and colleagues, includes some really important comments from Mankin on the implications of the work for water policy. The study helps clarify risks to water supply in the Rio Grande (and elsewhere, notably the Colorado River …
Continue reading ‘A plea for more attention to water use demand-side projections’ »