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Today’s Data + Past History Could Equal A More Equitable Way to Divvy Up California’s Water
January 9th, 2024
Via Mavens Notebook, a look at a California project to develop new tools to allocate limited water supplies: Joan Didion wrote in the 1970s that “so much water is moved around California by so many different agencies that maybe only the movers themselves know on any given day whose water is where.” In the half-century […]
Read more »Will Arizona Close a Loophole That Kets Developers Build Without Water?
January 9th, 2024
Via Grist, an article on Arizona where – despite water woes in “wildcat” neighborhoods – lawmakers may not act to close loopholes exploited by developers: When a small Arizona community called Rio Verde Foothills lost its water supply one year ago, forcing locals to skip showers and eat off paper plates, it became a poster child for unwise desert development. […]
Read more »A Stanford Economist Says We Should Think of Water Like Radio Waves
January 8th, 2024
Via Quartz, an article on a Stanford economist’s suggestions that it’s in our best interests to let farmers cash out like broadcast stations did in 2017: Water, water everywhere. And increasingly, not a drop a drink. As tensions over the future of water consumption hit their boiling point, a new working paper published through the […]
Read more »Colorado River States Are Racing to Agree on Cuts Before Inauguration Day
January 8th, 2024
Via The New York Times, a report that California, Arizona and others – fearing a political shake-up of negotiating teams after the November election – are aiming to wrap up work this year: The states that rely on the Colorado River, which is shrinking because of climate change and overuse, are rushing to agree on […]
Read more »Water’s Worth: In Nebraska, It Has Serious Value, But Who Owns It?
January 5th, 2024
Via Star Herald, an article on the value of water in America’s midwest: The land John Childears farms near North Platte is sandy, not particularly fertile, less than ideal. But the value of his land largely lies beneath his feet: the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the largest in the world. Childears recently harvested corn at […]
Read more »In the Drought-Stricken West, $25 Million Worth of Water Went Missing
January 5th, 2024
Via Popular Mechanics, a shocking story on how one man allegedly spent decades orchestrating a scheme to siphon water away from California’s prized canal system: The job was easier to pull off at odd hours. Early in the morning, before sunrise; or 7 in the evening, after everyone else had left work. There weren’t many prying […]
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