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Lake Powell: What Is It Good For?
February 2nd, 2023
Via The Land Desk, commentary on the value (or not) of Lake Powell in an era of drought and pondering a “Fill Mead First” strategy: Lake Powell: What is it good for? Absolutely nothing? Sometimes it seems that way, doesn’t it? Unlike other dams, Glen Canyon does not provide any meaningful flood control (except for in […]
Read more »Is the Aral Sea a Lost Cause?
January 31st, 2023
Via The Diplomat, a report on the Aral Sea’s desiccation amidst plummeting hopes for its revival: Prior to 1960, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest inland water reservoir in the planet, with a surface area of 66,900 square km. 1960 is a key date because it was the last time that the sea’s water level […]
Read more »As The Colorado River Dries Up, States Can’t Agree On Saving Water
January 31st, 2023
Courtesy of The Washington Post, an article on how the river’s biggest water user, California, didn’t join six states in a proposal to cut some 2 million acre feet of usage: For the second time in six months, states that depend on the Colorado River to sustain their farms and cities appear to have failed to reach an agreement […]
Read more »How Native Americans Will Shape the Future of Water in the U.S. West
January 29th, 2023
Courtesy of The New Yorker, a look how U.S. tribal nations – which hold the rights to significant portions of the Colorado River – are showing the way to sustainability in the era of increasing drought: As a child, Stephen Lewis heard stories about a river that, for the most part, no longer flowed. “How I grew […]
Read more »Indus Water Treaty: Pakistan And India Under International Law
January 29th, 2023
Via Eurasia Review, commentary on the Indus Water Treaty: Water is increasingly being recognized as one of the key impediments to development in arid and semiarid nations, where adequate quantity and quality of water for varied needs has already become a very tough challenge. All present trends point to a considerable growth in the complexity […]
Read more »Water Scarcity in the Arab World
January 27th, 2023
Via Geopolitical Futures, a report on the Arab World’s water challenges: Many prosperous ancient civilizations in the Arab world had at least one thing in common: an abundance of water. Today, however, the Arab region in West Asia and North Africa could become the most water-scarce area in the world. Demand is rising, driven […]
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