The Augustin Plains Ranch project, New Mexico’s version of a trend toward meeting urban needs in the west by pumping rural groundwater in to cities, is taking another whack at winning state approval after losing resoundingly two years ago: A for-profit group hoping to pump New Mexico groundwater to the Rio Grande Valley and sell …
Continue reading ‘Stuff I wrote elsewhere: moving groundwater in New Mexico’ »
tl;dr The 1922 Colorado River Compact was supposed to sidestep the “doctrine of prior appropriation”, assuring slow-developing Upper Colorado River Basin states that their fast-growing downstream neighbors wouldn’t lock up all the water. But while that may be true on paper, 21st century reality suggest “prior appropriation” is back. longer: Bret Walton’s Circle of Blue …
Continue reading ‘Prior appropriation: alive and well at the Colorado River basin scale?’ »
At this point it’s just a parlor game, but has Lake Mead broken through the old “lowest since they filled it” record yet or not? Regardless of the fractions of an inch involved, it’s a big deal. (Go to Circle of Blue for an explanation.) But the conversation this week has been a bit confused …
Continue reading ‘So did Lake Mead break the record yet or not?’ »
Smart words from Phil Isenberg, California’s water sage: [O]ur historic population and economic growth—and the social and individual choices we have made—explain the water and environmental problems we face today. Unless we acknowledge that water supplies are limited, and act to temper our water use, we will limp toward the next drought, and act surprised when …
Continue reading ‘Isenberg: Drought amplifies, not causes, water problems’ »
For the latest “Ask me a Colorado River question,” a friend of Inkstain wonders: Q: Can you move water from one Colorado River Basin state to another? A: No. OK, this is the Law of the River, so of course it’s more complicated than that, with numerous edge case exceptions, but basically, no, you can’t …
Continue reading ‘AMACRQ: Can you move Colorado River water from one state to another?’ »
update: With the latest hourly reading, the elevation of Lake Mead has dropped to 1,081.84 feet above sea level, the lowest it has been since the reservoir was being filled in the 1930s: Previously: Last night at midnight, the surface elevation of Lake Mead dropped to 1,081.89 feet above sea level, half an inch above …
Continue reading ‘Lake Mead at 1,081.89 feet above sea level and dropping: Is this unprecedented?’ »
Helen Ingram and colleagues on a few necessary conditions for a good solution to water management issues: Good policy design contributes to three key public needs: progress in problem solving that will make tomorrow’s challenges easier than today’s; representation of sufficient interests, so that the policy has a positive balance of support and is politically …
Continue reading ‘Characteristics of a good water policy solution’ »
[View the story “California drought” on Storify]
I’m not sure “Utah shouldn’t build that pipeline because California might need our water” sounds like a winning political argument, at least if you’re having the argument in Utah. I’m not saying it’s not accurate. Overdevelopment of Upper Colorado River Basin water right now clearly poses a risk of colliding with the Upper Basin’s obligation …
Continue reading ‘Utah and California, sharing a watershed’ »
No Endangered Species Act litigation required for this project on the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico: The Rio Grande is recovering some native vegetation with irrigation water typically used by farmers. The International Boundary and Water Commission oversees water treaties between the United States and Mexico. But lately the agency has invested in river …
Continue reading ‘What water sharing and collaboration can look like’ »