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Don’t Flee the American Southwest Just Yet
January 2nd, 2024
Via the New York Times, commentary on the U.S. southwest and water scarcity: This summer, when the temperature hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit or above in Phoenix for 31 straight days, many were fretting about the Southwest’s prospects in the age of climate change. A writer for The Atlantic asked, “When Will the Southwest Become Unlivable?” Bloomberg wondered, “How […]
Read more »A Grand Plan To Save the Rio Grande
January 2nd, 2024
Via The Hill, commentary on a grand plan to save the Rio Grande: America’s rivers are integral to our country’s natural heritage and economy — and they’re drying up at an alarming rate. Already strained by decades of excessive water use, mainly for irrigation, once-thriving waterways now face the added pressure of climate change. […]
Read more »Strawberry Case Study: What If U.S. Farmers Had to Pay for Water?
December 29th, 2023
Courtesy of the New York Times, a case study examining the impact of California’s efforts to essentially tax groundwater: The strawberry, blackberry and raspberry fields of the Pajaro Valley stretch for 10 miles along the coast of California’s Monterey Bay, jeweled with fruit from April through early December. The valley’s 30,000 acres of farmland are […]
Read more »In California, Restored Floodplains Can Help Solve the State’s Water Crisis
December 29th, 2023
Via Fast Company, a look at how restored floodplains in California’s agricultural heartland are fighting both flooding and drought The land of the Central Valley works hard. Here in the heart of California, in the most productive farming region in the United States, almost every square inch of land has been razed, planted, and shaped […]
Read more »America: Draining Its Precious Groundwater to Make More Chicken Wings and Pizza
December 25th, 2023
Courtesy of The New York Times, a detailed look at how America is draining its precious groundwater to make more chicken wings and pizza: America’s striking dietary shift in recent decades, toward far more chicken and cheese, has not only contributed to concerns about American health but has taken a major, undocumented toll on underground […]
Read more »The Fate of the West’s Water Rests on the Shoulders of This 27-Year-Old
December 24th, 2023
Courtesy of Politico, a report on J.B. Hamby’s efforts to find a way to convince California’s cities and farmers to cut a deal over the Colorado River: When the highest stakes water negotiations in a century opened this fall, the largest, most powerful state — California — was represented by the youngest person at the table, […]
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