The solution to our water woes
When I was a kid, they had one of these things at the Los Angeles County Fair. I remember staring for the longest time, trying to figure it out. (h/t Chris Corbin)
Archive of posts filed under the water category.
Colorado River Quote of the Week
Some scientists predict that climatic changes could alter historic precipitation patterns, and reduce available water supplies. Carbon dioxide loading of the atmosphere caused by fossil-fuel combustion, mostly in coal-burning power plants, threatens a significant climate change…. A National Academy of Sciences report estimates that the resulting temperature increase and reduction in precipitation could diminish water …
Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere, Drought Edition
New Mexico drought conditions forecast to improve
Runoff Timing
In light of yesterday’s mediapalooza about the new federal climate report (see my contributions here and here), there’s an interesting on-the-ground reality check today in the Denver Post: Colorado’s peak flow from snowmelt hit a few weeks earlier than normal, causing problems for some recreational users of the state’s rivers and complicating downstream irrigation strategies. …
Groundwater Recharge in California
A lazyweb question for any of the Calfornia water geeks in the audience…. My old employer, the Pasadena Star-News, had an editorial over the weekend that raised the question of groundwater recharge in the following backhanded way: During a recent dust-up over city of Pasadena water rates, two of the conservation skeptics wrote an essay …
Will Canada and the U.S. go to war over water?
No. But a story by Mark Hume in the Globe and Mail illustrates the delicacies of transboundary water questions, and by coincidence is one of two interesting examples of the problem that scrolled across my monitor this morning. Hume’s story details objections by residents of British Columbia to a dam being contemplated in Washington state …
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“insufficient water to meet needs”, energy edition
“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, …
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“insufficient water to meet needs”
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 …
Preparing for a Colorado River call
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 …
Buy My Book
The Tree Rings’ Tale: Understanding Our Changing Climate won’t be out until fall, but you can pre-order now! Don’t delay!