We have revolutionized our concept of what western water is. It is no longer simply a commodity to be removed from a watercourse for use on farmland or in a factory. There is life and beauty in water. It is a valid use of water simply to allow it to remain in a stream or …
After spending the day reading about the federal government’s, shall we say, persuasive role in assisting Imperial Valley farmers that it was in their best interests to figure out a way to share a bit of their water across San Gorgonio Pass with the city folk to their west, I this evening ran across this: …
Continue reading ‘In western water, what’s the right role for the feds?’ »
Pollution control efforts seem to be working on Britain’s urban rivers: Britain’s urban rivers are the cleanest they have been for more than two decades, a study has found. More than 2,300 river sites in England and Wales were analysed between 1991 and 2011 by Cardiff University. They examined the presence and spread of 78 …
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If I wanted to make mischief, I’d write a blog post pointing out that Lake Mead ended May at a historic low right after release of 105,392 acre feet of water for a historic environmental flow through the Colorado River Delta. I’d calculate how much higher Lake Mead would be if that 105,392 acre feet …
Continue reading ‘That thing I wrote about Lake Mead being the lowest ever turned out to be true’ »
Poking in the garden this morning, I’d never have guessed without actual rain gauge data that we just finished a wet month. It’s really dry out there. But drought is a funny thing, eh? 0.55 inches (1.4 cm) of rain at our house in May was the first above-average month since November. My total …
Another example of reasons to be optimistic about our water future? With just half its normal precip last winter, Israel is in what might properly be characterized as a meteorological drought this year. But not to worry, according to this AP report: Tenne said the country has managed to close its water gap through a …
Unless tropical depression Amanda does something miraculous, and quickly, Lake Mead will end May at its lowest level for this point in the year since Elwood Mead and his buddies filled the reservoir in the 1930s, 20 feet in surface elevation below last year at this time. The “tropical storm Amanda” thing was a joke. …
Continue reading ‘Lake Mead: lowest end-of-May levels in history’ »
I suppose if you work this image from yesterday’s Landsat pass over the Colorado River Delta hard enough, you could find a path of wet connection between river and sea: Image courtesy USGS Earth Explorer
We’re not running out of water in the West. What we’re running out of is cheap water in the West. – Jeff Mount
As Southern California looks at its next water supply steps, one of the top items on its agenda is cleaning up groundwater contamination. It’s cheaper than building more storage. So says MWD’s Jeff Kightlinger: I think you’re going to see the next wave of investments over the next decades in Southern California focused around issues …
Continue reading ‘Pollution cleanup as a solution to water supply shortfalls’ »