John Wesley Powell famously argued in the 19th century that the West’s political jurisdictions should be shaped around watersheds, rather than the often arbitrary rectangles that had been used to establish our governmental geometry as the nation moved across the great plains. In an odd sort of way, we seem to be carrying out Powell’s …
Rio Grande from Alameda Bridge, Albuquerque Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. One of my favorite spots in Albuquerque is the old Alameda Bridge at the north end of town. When they built a new multi-lane bridge across the river, they kept the old one, turning it into a foot-bike-horse bridge. It’s about 10 miles from my …
Continue reading ‘Water in the Desert: Ring-Billed Gull Edition’ »
Emily Green had some kind words for my book in the LA Times: Many texts about climate change begin with rapidly melting polar ice, but Fleck’s opens instead with the 19th century explorer John Wesley Powell and his navigation of the Colorado River. Ferociously wild in Powell’s time, the Colorado is tamed by dams and …
Continue reading ‘Chance of Rain Reviews “Tree Rings’ Tale”’ »
Michael Gardner has a nice summary of what’s at stake in the litigation blocking the complex deal under which California agrees to throttle back its use of Colorado River water: Southern California’s water managers insist it should be easy to overcome the latest challenge to a landmark, seven-state pact to share the Colorado River that …
Even as California pumps its aquifers dry, the feds are sudsidizing more wells.
It remains too early to say a whole lot about what to expect in the 2009-2010 water year on the Colorado River, but the odds of extra water to buck up Lake Mead are dropping. Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation put the chances at 50-50 that there would be enough water in Lake …
One of the points that Mickey Glantz makes is that drought, as a societal rather than a meteorological event, requires not just the rain to fail, but also a society’s institutions. So what’s happening in South America right now, in particular the political fallout from a reduction in precipitation, is intriguing. From Ecuador: A drought …
New data being presented by NASA scientists at this week’s AGU meeting shows how truly remarkably fast California’s aquifers are being sucked dry: New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California’s primary agricultural region — the Central Valley — and its major mountain water source — the Sierra Nevadas — have …
AP is reporting this evening that a state judge in California has thrown out the 2003 deal by which California agreed to stop using so damn much Colorado River water: A California judge has tentatively invalidated a landmark pact to curtail the state’s overuse of water and allow other Western states to claim their fair …
Continue reading ‘Judge Throws Monkey Wrench Into California Water’ »
In Dead Pool, James Powell sketches out an apocalyptic scenario facing the hydraulic society we’ve built in the West on Colorado River water. (It’s a great read. If you’re interested in western water, you daren’t miss it.) After building up the history, science, politics and policy that have developed over the last century, Powell lays …
Continue reading ‘Dead Pool, the Colorado River and the Solution Space’ »