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Drought-Ravaged Colorado River Gets Relief From Snow, But Crisis Remains
April 9th, 2023
Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, a report on how the drought-ravaged Colorado River got some relief from snow, but its long-term water crisis remains: Four months ago, the outlook for the Colorado River was so dire that federal projections showed imminent risks of reservoirs dropping to dangerously low levels. But after this winter’s major […]
Read more »Afghan Canal A Test For Taliban Ties In Water-Stressed Central Asia
April 9th, 2023
Via Radio Free Europe, commentary on a planned new Afghan canal which will parch an already water-stressed Central Asia: When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 in a lightning military insurrection that toppled Afghanistan’s internationally recognized government, the country immediately fell into diplomatic isolation. Two of Kabul’s neighbors to the north, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, […]
Read more »Turkey’s Dams Bring Power and Heartbreak
April 9th, 2023
Via Foreign Policy, a report on the impact of Turkey’s hydropower ambitions: Standing on a hilltop overlooking the vast Kackar mountain range in Turkey’s northeastern Artvin province, residents of Yusufeli are slowly watching their town drown. Each day, the water rises an estimated 3 feet, erasing gardens, graveyards, and streets; then come houses, historical churches, […]
Read more »How We Drained California Dry
April 7th, 2023
Via the MIT Technology Review, an article on the story of remaking California and taking the water until there was nothing left: The wind finally blew the other way last night and kicked out the smoke from the burning Sierra. Down here in the flatland of California, we used to regard the granite mountain as […]
Read more »Government Wants To Pay Western Farmers To Save Water By Not Farming
April 7th, 2023
Via Fast Company, an interesting look at a proposed government plan to pay western U.S. farmers to save water by not farming: Tom Brundy, an alfalfa grower in California’s Imperial Valley, thinks farmers reliant on the shrinking Colorado River can do more to save water and use it more efficiently. That’s why he’s installed water sensors […]
Read more »Death On The Darling
April 7th, 2023
Via The Economist, a look at how climate change and poor management are imperilling Australia’s biggest river system: Yabbies, freshwater lobsters native to Australia, thrive in the outback for a reason. They can tolerate high temperatures and drought, and need hardly any oxygen in their water. Yet even for them the Darling river, which snakes […]
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