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Abysmal Math on the Colorado River
April 14th, 2026
Via The Land Desk, commentary on how the U.S. government is looking to avoid de facto deadpool at Glen Canyon Dam: The Central Arizona Project canal, which carries Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson, as it runs past fields in the desert (that are irrigated with groundwater, not CAP water). The CAP is not […]
Read more »The Colorado River Is Effectively Insolvent — And Corporate Water Users May Not Have Priced It
April 9th, 2026
Via Todd Cort’s informative Substack, commentary on the Colorado River, a climate-induced bankruptcy sitting on the balance sheet: Imagine that a company had a pension fund that promised $16.5 billion in future payouts but the value of that fund today sits at only $12.4 billion. Moreover, that pension fund has been drawing down the balance […]
Read more »The American West Is Drying Up. Can the Market Help?
March 18th, 2026
Via New Republic, a look at how – as hedge funds buy up land to obtain water rights – a libertarian state representative from Arizona has proposed a seemingly radical solution to the water crisis. Is he right? When members of the Colorado River Water Users Association, or CRWUA, descended on Caesars Palace for their annual […]
Read more »The Alfalfa Fallacy
March 10th, 2026
Via The Land Desk, commentary on the lack of “obvious” solutions to the Colorado River crisis: Oh dear. You’d best get your skiing in now, because it looks like the spring melt will hit a lot earlier than usual. A big heat wave is on its way to the West, with the most unseasonably warm […]
Read more »Both Sides Running out of Water: US and Mexico’s Deal Amid Historic Drought
March 5th, 2026
Via Texas Public Radio, a report on how the U.S. and Mexico’s recent water deal: Mexico has committed to delivering 431.7 million cubic meters of water a year to the United States under the 1944 Water Treaty — a deal announced last week after sustained pressure from Washington on Mexico who has often delivered significantly as required by […]
Read more »How a California Desalination Plant Could Ease Water Shortages on the Colorado River
March 5th, 2026
Via the Los Angeles Times, a look at how a California desalination plant could ease water shortages on the Colorado River: With desert cities like Phoenix and Tucson bracing for their allotments of Colorado River water to be slashed dramatically, San Diego County’s water agency could for the first time sell some of its water […]
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