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Aridity Could Dry Up Southwestern Mine Proposals
January 23rd, 2024
Via Inside Climate News, a look at how – while critical minerals for the clean energy transition are abundant in the Southwest – dozens of mines proposed to access them will require vast sums of water, something in short supply in the desert: One by one, leaders from across Arizona gave speeches touting the importance […]
Read more »Are We Headed for the First Colorado River Compact Tripwire?
January 21st, 2024
Via JFleck at Inkstain, commentary on whether the U.S. southwest is headed for the first Colorado River Compact tripwire? The Bureau of Reclamation’s January 2024 “Most Probable” 24-month study forecasts that annual releases from Glen Canyon Dam for both Water Years 2025 and 2026 will be 7.48 million acre-feet per year (maf). If this happens, the ten-year […]
Read more »Nebraska Buys Land In Colorado To Build Canal, But Doubts Remain about Plans to Divert Water
January 18th, 2024
Via NPR’s KUST, a report on Nebraska’s purchase of land in Colorado as part of potential water diversion scheme: Nebraska is moving forward with plans to build a canal that would redirect some South Platte River water out of Colorado. The state bought about 90 acres of land in Colorado as part of construction plans. […]
Read more »How Imperial Valley Became a Target for Water
January 10th, 2024
Via The Desert Review, commentary on how California’s Imperial Valley became a target for water: If you were paying attention, strange things started happening in 2022. Reporters from the Washington Post, the New York Times, and other major news outlets began showing up in Holtville, Westmorland, and even in unassuming fields across the valley. Meanwhile, hedge […]
Read more »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. […]
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