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Archive for the ‘Colorado River’ Category

The Colorado River: Hung Out to Dry?

Via Slate, commentary on the crisis affecting the Colorado River: On Aug. 16, the Bureau of Reclamation, a federal agency that is part of the Interior Department, held a press conference announcing that for the first time in the 99 years of governmental record-keeping, it was declaring a water shortage on the Colorado River. Starting […]

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Western US Faces Future Of Prolonged Drought

Via Terra Daily, an article on the US West’s dry future: Seasonal summer rains have done little to offset drought conditions gripping the western United States, with California and Nevada seeing record July heat and moderate-to-exceptional drought according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Now, new research is showing how drought in the […]

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40 Million People Rely On The Colorado River Which Is Drying Up Fast

Courtesy of The New York Times, an article on the Colorado River: On a 110-degree day several years ago, surrounded by piles of sand and rock in the desert outside of Las Vegas, I stepped into a yellow cage large enough to fit three standing adults, and was lowered 600 feet through a black hole […]

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High and Dry: The American West Is Drying Up

Via The Economist, a report on the drought in the U.S. west: Locals call it the “bathtub ring”. A white strip more than 150 feet tall encircles the turquoise surface of Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir, showing visitors how high the water once was, and how far it has fallen. The shrinking of Lake Mead and […]

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First-Ever Water Cuts Declared For Colorado River In Historic Drought

Via CNN, a report on the first-ever water cuts declared for Colorado River in historic drought: The federal government on Monday declared a water shortage on the Colorado River for the first time, triggering mandatory water consumption cuts for states in the Southwest, as climate change-fueled drought pushes the level in Lake Mead to unprecedented lows. Lake […]

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The Colorado River Basin’s Daunting New Math

Via Circle of Blue, an article examining how the Colorado River basin’s big reservoirs have fallen to uncharted territory, with a dire forecast in the future: Lakes Mead and Powell, icons of 20th century water engineering in the American West, are in bad shape. The story of their decline is written into the edges of the […]

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