In a 1932 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court famously opined that… a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country. From that line comes the idea that the U.S. states can function as “laboratories of democracy”. …
Continue reading ‘On water quality, New York pursues big experiment’ »
At this critical time of year for Colorado River snowpack, things are looking very good. For the first time this year, the April-July runoff forecast has climbed above 10 million acre feet. The snowpack among the sites above Lake Powell where the federal government maintains real-time monitoring equipment is 57 percent above the long term …
update: here’s a link to the full text of the Secretarial order Page 1 of Jan. 18, 2017 Colorado River Interior Secretarial Order Contributed to DocumentCloud by John Fleck of Beyond the Water Wars • View document or read text The Obama administration’s senior western water leadership this afternoon announced a Colorado River water management …
Continue reading ‘Jewell announces bridge to completion of Colorado River deals’ »
This is a big deal: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which gathers water for 19 million people in the region, expects it can now begin storing water for future years. In recent years, it had been using up its water reserves. It’s just one bit of a thoroughly excellent piece on the state …
I’ll be doing an American Water Resources Association Webinar Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 1 pm EST, talking about my book.
The question of the headline, which was the title for the talks I gave last week in Phoenix was, I admit, a little cheeky. I’m just some schlub from New Mexico with an academic title and a book. That doesn’t mean I know the answer to the question. But to the extent I have an …
PHOENIX – Drive south on Interstate 10 out of the Phoenix metro area, past Ikea, and the city ends abruptly, a sharp line between development and desert. Given its reputation for sprawl, Phoenix (when I say “Phoenix” here I’m talking about the whole metro area, not just the city itself) is remarkably compact. The realities …
It is only January. We have months and months of snow season left, which will determine whether we have a good runoff year on New Mexico’s Rio Grande. So you should in no way click obsessively on the snowpack map every morning while you’re having your first cup of coffee. I repeat, do not click. …
Continue reading ‘Ignore this quite encouraging Rio Grande runoff forecast’ »
Cleverly managed deficit irrigation (when you significantly reduce water applied during the hot part of the year) substantially increased yield per unit water applied in a new study by researchers at UC Davis. In controlled side-by-side field experiments, Dan Putnam and his colleagues demonstrated that if you do it right, a big reduction in water …
At least one community in the midwest has found a way to protect its dwindling aquifer: Groundwater levels were generally higher in January 2016 than they were in January 2015. On average, in January 2016, groundwater levels in the shallow part of the aquifer were about 3.4 feet higher and groundwater levels in the deep …