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A Dam Waste In the Age of Megadrought
October 14th, 2023
Via TruthDig, commentary on how Colorado’s Gross Dam illustrates the folly of impounding water to feed unsustainable economic and population growth in the American West: Mining explosions and summertime thunder can sound remarkably similar. In my rural Colorado neighborhood, 10 miles southwest of Boulder, the smaller blasts that clear ground for the expansion of Gross Dam […]
Read more »The Colorado River Wars Are Based on Bad Math
October 12th, 2023
Via Mother Jones, a look at how faulty assumptions have brought the Colorado “Law of the River” to a breaking point: California and Arizona are currently fighting each other over water from the Colorado River. But this isn’t new—it’s actually been going on for over 100 years. At one point, the states literally went to war about […]
Read more »Saltwater Threat to Louisiana Drinking Water to Grow Across US
October 11th, 2023
Courtesy of The Guardian, a look at how Louisiana residents are facing a crisis as seawater penetrates Mississippi, but scientists say other coastal cities likely to be affected over time: The threat to drinking water from the kind of saltwater intrusion currently creeping up the drought-hit Mississippi River towards New Orleans will increasingly be faced […]
Read more »Arizona Is Evicting a Saudi Alfalfa Farm, But The Thirsty Crop Isn’t Going Anywhere
October 10th, 2023
Via Grist, a report on Arizona’s recent decision to evict a Saudi alfalfa farm, but the state’s decision will do little to solve a water shortage largely driven by irrigated agriculture; As Arizona struggles to adapt to a water shortage that has dried out farms and scuttled development plans, one company has emerged as a central […]
Read more »A Third of the US Is Stuck In a Drought. It Could Get Worse
October 7th, 2023
Via The Messenger, a report on U.S. drought, where hot and dry conditions have persisted for 11 weeks straight across much of the nation: After the hottest September on record, about one-third of the United States is experiencing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The conditions have persisted for 11 weeks straight. Higher-than-average temperatures […]
Read more »Arizona Moves to End Saudi Farm’s Controversial Groundwater Deals
October 5th, 2023
Via AZCentral, a report on Arizona’s move to end a Saudi farm’s controversial groundwater deals to grow, export alfalfa: Gov. Katie Hobbs’ administration on Monday announced two steps to stop a controversial Saudi Arabian company from using groundwater beneath state land in western Arizona to grow and export alfalfa. Hobbs said in a statement that […]
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