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U.S. Southwest, Already Parched, Sees ‘Virtual Water’ Drain Abroad
June 2nd, 2021
Via Undark, an article on how, as the Colorado River Basin enters yet another year of drought, global companies are worsening the water crisis: Driving into southern California’s Palo Verde Valley from the Arizona border, fields of vibrant green appear out of the desert like a mirage. Near the town of Blythe, water from the Colorado […]
Read more »First-Ever Colorado River Water Shortage Is Now Almost Certain
May 28th, 2021
Via CNN, an article on new projections that show a Colorado River water shortage is now almost certain: Thousands of people will celebrate Memorial Day this weekend on the water of Lake Mead, just 24 miles east of Las Vegas on the border of Arizona and Nevada. What they may not realize is that the oasis […]
Read more »Hoover Dam Made Life in the West Possible. Or So We Thought.
May 19th, 2021
Courtesy of The New York Times, an OpEd on water scarcity in the U.S. west: Few things force you to confront hubris and genius at the same time as much as the magnificent harness on the Colorado River that created the largest reservoir in the United States. To build Hoover Dam in the 1930s, an army of […]
Read more »Water Created California and The West, but Will Drought Finish Them Off?
May 2nd, 2021
Via the LA Times, an article on the U.S. west’s increasing problem with water scarcity: In what may become an iconic image for drought-stricken California, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood on the parched bed of Lake Mendocino on April 21 to announce an emergency declaration for Sonoma and Mendocino counties. “I’m standing currently 40 feet underwater,” he said, […]
Read more »Key Colorado River Reservoir Could Sink To Record Low Later This Year
April 19th, 2021
Via CNN, a report on new projections that show a key Colorado River reservoir could sink to a record low later this year: Wracked by drought, climate change and overuse, a key reservoir on the Colorado River could sink to historically low levels later this year, new US government projections show, potentially triggering significant water cutbacks in […]
Read more »Drought In US West
April 2nd, 2021
Via The Economist, a report on how the lack of snow in the US west is worsening the Colorado River’s supply problem: On March 13th, Denverites watched from frozen windows as the fourth-biggest snowstorm ever to hit their city buried Colorado’s capital two feet deep, and added fresh powder to the foothills of the Rockies. Local officials […]
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