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Droughtlandia USA
May 25th, 2016
Courtesy of the Pacific Standard, an interesting commentary on what happens when climate change causes Californians to migrate north to Oregon and Washington: In a rumpled suit jacket and faded jeans, Giles Slade stands atop an earthen levee and looks out over a vast expanse of water. It’s mid-November, and the Fraser River runs gray […]
Read more »Southwest US: As Lake Mead Dwindles, Can An Interstate Water War Be Far Behind?
May 25th, 2016
Via the Los Angeles Times, an article on the growing tension over the dwindling Colorado River: The last time two states went to war over water, it was 1934. The combatants were California and Arizona and the casus belli was the start of construction of Parker Dam, which would direct water from the Colorado River into California via […]
Read more »Water: The Other U.S.-Mexico Border Issue
May 13th, 2016
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a detailed analysis of the growing tension over the Rio Grande watershed: When determining borders, a river is often the clearest delineation between sovereign nations. But that clarity abruptly ends when countries must decide how to use the water that the river provides. Even managing rivers that do not determine […]
Read more »Clean Water Crisis Threatens U.S.
April 26th, 2016
Via The Hill, a sobering summary of the water challenges facing America: The United States is on the verge of a national crisis that could mean the end of clean, cheap water. Hundreds of cities and towns are at risk of sudden and severe shortages, either because available water is not safe to drink or […]
Read more »California’s Water Wars Heat Up: SoCal Makes A Land Grab
April 13th, 2016
Via Wired, a updated look at the latest developments in California where a thirsty southern part of the state eyes the north’s water resources aggressively: THE ONE BIG thing to understand about water in California is this: The north has it, the south wants it. Yes, sure, pedants will say it’s more complicated. That you need to consider pre-1914 water […]
Read more »Water: Precious Commodity Sparks Fear, Feuds and Lawsuits On U.S. Great Plains
April 6th, 2016
Via E&E Publishing, a report on It took 10 million years for rainfall and glacial runoff to fill the sprawling Ogallala Aquifer. It took a century to drain a third of it and threaten its future. Spread under parts of eight Great Plains states — Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and […]
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