“The Saudi Arabia of X” is a common new energy meme that has been applied, among many things, to the oil shales of the western United States. But its invocation requires some significant arm-waving over the question of water, as this report by Jeremy Miller points out: But it is water – or more specifically, …
Continue reading ‘“insufficient water to meet needs”, energy edition’ »
I’ve repeatedly leaned over the years on Kelly Redmond’s definition of drought: “insufficient water to meet needs”. I was reminded of same today when a friend who lives in Massachusetts sent me a story about water shortages there: With lawn watering season just getting underway, the state says there are 160 rivers and streams in …
There’s never been a “call” on the Colorado River – a need to curtail use in order to meet Colorado Compact delivery obligations. But folks in Western Colorado are preparing for the possibility. Via John Orr’s Coyote Gulch (a Colorado (state) water blog), a release from the Colorado River District explains how it works: [U]sers …
The Tree Rings’ Tale: Understanding Our Changing Climate won’t be out until fall, but you can pre-order now! Don’t delay!
In his history of of American economic growth, Empire of Wealth, John Steele Gordon discusses the importance of the provision of clean municipal water supplies to the growing industrial cities of America’s east coast. The rich had cisterns, the poor hauled water from contaminated wells, and nobody had very much of the stuff. Indoor plumbing …
Emily Green yesterday detailed the story of Cadiz, the California company that wants to pump groundwater from the Mohave desert and sell it into Southern California’s coastal municipal and industrial market. CALIFORNIA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed plans by private speculator Cadiz, Inc to tap Mojave ground water, reports the Los Angeles Business Journal. The …
Is salt cedar evil?
The Sacramento Delta is a classic example of government’s ability to kick the can down the road. Mike Taugher has a nice overview today of the current state of play: At least a couple of recent studies suggest California has, in recent years, bumped up against the upper limit of what it can take from …
Here in New Mexico, groundwater is regulated – sort of. If you’re a big municipality that pumps a lot, for example, you can be required to buy up surface water rights to replace the water that inevitably seeps from the rivers down to replace that which you have pumped. It’s not really regulating groundwater directly, …
Continue reading ‘Groundwater Regulation in California (or lack thereof)’ »
With all of the water in the western United States spoken for, there’s an increasingly common problem in water policy and politics discussions in which a seemingly simple solution to a water problem in fact just creates a different problem somewhere else. An article in the March/April Southwest Hydrology from my old stomping grounds of …
Continue reading ‘Rearranging the deck chairs on the western water Titanic’ »