Archive of posts filed under the water category.

Return of the Deadpool Diaries: The Colorado River news keeps getting worse

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With the latest Bureau of Reclamation model runs highlighting the serious risks posed by the declining reservoir levels that Utah State’s Jack Schmidt has been warning about, there are signs that the closed-room discussions among the seven basin states, after brief glimmers of hope last month, are once again not going well. The Reservoirs The …

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USBR Albuquerque staffing update

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From USBR Albuquerque office chief Jennifer Faler’s report to the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District board yesterday (Monday, July 14, 2025). The USBR Albuquerque office has, on paper, a full staffing contingent of 200 FTEs. That’s on paper. Operationally, the actual levels in the past generally hovered around 175. Current staffing level sits at 117 …

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The Rio Grande has gone dry in Albuquerque

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The “official” call: the Rio Grande went dry in the Albuquerque reach, just upstream of the city’s wastewater treatment plant (click here for the map), on Sunday evening (July 13, 2025), for only the second time in the 21st century. “Dry” in this case has a formal definition. The thinning ribbons of water you see …

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Rio Grande drying through Albuquerque

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The Rio Grande gage at Albuquerque’s Central Avenue Bridge is reading 20.5 cubic feet per second this afternoon (Sunday, July 13). The last time we saw river drying in the Albuquerque reach, back in 2022, 25 cfs at Central wasn’t enough to make it to the wastewater treatment plant outfall, as flows dwindled in the …

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Quoting Leopold and Bull

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Rivers have a heritage but no beginning. Luna Leopold and William Bull, from their classic paper “Base level, aggradation, and grade.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 123.3 (1979): 168-202. That’s the juicy pull quote, but it’s maybe too cryptic. Here’s more context: Through geologic time even the first incipient channel system appearing on an …

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John Fleck’s thoughts on Yorkshire hosepipe ban

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Via GB News, Yorkshire Water has imposed a hosepipe ban following the region’s driest spring in 132 years: Locals have expressed their anger to the People’s Channel as the weather remains hot, and they are unable to complete tasks such as cleaning their cars, watering their gardens, filling domestic pools, and cleaning their windows. They …

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Building a city in the bed of a river

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Most of Greater Downtown (Albuquerque) sits below the level of the Rio Grande, like a sort of high-desert New Orleans. Any rain that falls between the river’s east-bank levee and roughly Broadway will stay in the area until it evaporates, gets absorbed into the ground, or is otherwise dealt with. – Downtown Albuquerque News DAN …

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The batting cages and the Armijo Acequia

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One of my favorite examples of old ditches threading through our community is this spot, where the Armijo Acequia (AKA the Ranchos de Atrisco Ditch) emerges from a culvert that runs beneath the batting cages on Sunset SE near the Rio Grande. The ditch dates to the 1700s. Baseball is more recent, batting cages more …

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The Colorado River “psst psst” scheme emerges into public view: the “Supply Driven” concept

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    See note of correction/clarification below: Arizona yesterday finally moved the super-secret idea at the heart of current Colorado River negotiations out of the shadows. The idea is deceptively simple: base Lake Powell releases on a percentage of the three-year rolling average of the Colorado River’s estimated “natural flow” at Lee Ferry. Allocate water …

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