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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 »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 »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 »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, […]
Read more »Colorado River Stakeholders Say There’s No One Solution To The Water Crisis
December 21st, 2023
Via Utah Public Radio, a report on the Colorado River: The future of the Colorado River is being hashed out behind closed doors, and negotiators appear far from a long-term solution to the wide gap between water supply and water demand. At the Colorado River Water Users Association annual meeting in Las Vegas, representatives from […]
Read more »Addressing Groundwater Overdraft in the Sacramento Valley
December 15th, 2023
Via the Public Policy Institute of California, a report on ways to address groundwater overdraft in the Sacramento Valley: Although the Sacramento Valley has relatively abundant surface water supplies, groundwater is also an important resource for many of its communities and farms. In fact, one-third of the valley’s farmland depends entirely on groundwater, and more than half (60%) […]
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