Archive of posts filed under the water category.

Robert Moses, the Colorado River, and the tragedy of the anticommons

Posted by on

[T]he anticommons refers to situations where there are numerous overlapping rights holders (or what might also be seen as numerous policy advocacy coalitions) each with some power to veto or block system or operation change. The tragedy emerges when the composite effect of such power prevents significant change in the system. – Jones, Benjamin A., …

Continue reading ‘Robert Moses, the Colorado River, and the tragedy of the anticommons’ »

Retiring coal plants as a Colorado River Basin demand management strategy

Posted by on

OK, “strategy” is not exactly the right word here, but we take our water conservation where we can find it, eh? Luke Runyon took a nice dive into the water supply implications of the West’s wave of coal plant retirements. Because coal plants use water. Here’s my coauthor Eric Kuhn on the implications: “As a …

Continue reading ‘Retiring coal plants as a Colorado River Basin demand management strategy’ »

The Future Lake Powell: Feb. 20, Moab

Posted by on

update: It’s apparently at 6 p.m., not 6:30, thanks to alert reader! My coauthor, Eric Kuhn, will be joining a bunch of other Colorado River smart people tomorrow (Thurs. Feb. 20, 2020) in Moab for an event organized by Utah State’s Center for Colorado River Studies: February 20, 2020 — The Future of Lake Powell Forum …

Continue reading ‘The Future Lake Powell: Feb. 20, Moab’ »

“in tribute to a million acre feet” – Herbert Hoover and Arizona’s Gila water

Posted by on

My thanks to a friend who recently pointed me, as we discussed the appropriate ways to account for Arizona’s use of tributary Colorado River water, to the above bit of history. In the official transcript of a 1946 congressional hearing, which was then gleefully repeated down through the years (you can see it on p. …

Continue reading ‘“in tribute to a million acre feet” – Herbert Hoover and Arizona’s Gila water’ »

Levels of uncertainty on the Colorado River

Posted by on

One of the great lessons of the last two decades on the Colorado River is the futility of the “search for certainty”. No one number for “the flow of the Colorado River” can allow us to plan for the future. We face the formidable task of building a river new management framework that is robust …

Continue reading ‘Levels of uncertainty on the Colorado River’ »

In praise of rail lines and ditchbanks

Posted by on

Somewhere around Mile 22 of a long Sunday bike ride, my friend Scot motioned to a dirt road off to the left, crossing the railroad tracks. “We’re turning there,” he said. The ride down New Mexico state highway 314, through Albuquerque’s South Valley, across Isleta Pueblo and into Valencia County, is a lovely one, urban …

Continue reading ‘In praise of rail lines and ditchbanks’ »

The Rio Grande’s shrinking snowpack

Posted by on

A dry January in the Rio Grande headwaters means a shrinking runoff forecast. Otowi (the Compact measurement point on which New Mexico’s Texas delivery obligation is based): 78 percent, which is down from 90 percent on January 1. Still big error bars, because the most important variable is how much snow we get in February …

Continue reading ‘The Rio Grande’s shrinking snowpack’ »

Taking New Mexico’s Gila water from the San Juan?

Posted by on

Old John Fleck would have happily explained to you why this from Bruce Babbitt is a terrible idea: Damming the Gila River is a vampire proposal that would suck the life out of Southern New Mexico’s most treasured wild and scenic river. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants to kill the project. Both of New Mexico’s …

Continue reading ‘Taking New Mexico’s Gila water from the San Juan?’ »