More when I have time, but for now, since this is a blog and we’re supposed to be on top of things, some stuff I wrote elsewhere: The Colorado River will be too small to meet the needs of its users three years out of five, or more, by mid-century, according to new research. Some …
A discussion of the Colorado River over at Tom Yulsman’s blog led to a helpful post on the consumption side of the ledger: According to a 2008 study published in Water Resources Research (subscription required for full text), Lake Mead already is being overdrawn by 1 million acre feet of water per year.
From today’s newspaper, a look at Jeff Bingaman’s approach to climate legislation: [A]s we sat down for lunch last week to talk climate and energy policy, the first thing out of Bingaman’s mouth was an explanation of “the Byrd rule.” The topic helps illustrate the delicate way Bingaman prefers to play the legislative game. The …
Henry Brean, a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, caught something remarkable in the latest monthly reservoir operations plan published by the Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado River region office. By next month, Lake Mead will drop below 1,100 feet above sea level in surface elevation – the first time it has dropped below that …
Jim Belshaw’s new book, a collection of his finest newspaper writing, is out:
I only know what I read in the paper these days about the Metropolitan Water District, Southern California’s giant water wholesaler. But it sure looks from this LA Times story as though the Met is trying to use market mechanisms to impose a 10 percent reduction in deliveries: The Metropolitan Water District, which imports water …
Continue reading ‘Southern California Cutbacks: A Market Mechanism’ »
My newspaper colleagues Marla Brose and Olivier Uyttebrouck did a lovely package over the weekend about a group of Franciscans here in Albuquerque celebrating Easter. Especially check out Marla’s slide show (story’s also linked from that page.)
A team at the University of Arizona has a neat piece of work in PNAS this week isolating the temperature variable in the tree mortality we’re seeing in the West. The scientists put piñon trees from northern New Mexico (I’m so parochial) into Biosphere 2 down by Phoenix, using the facility’s ability to control temperature …
When I install a low-flow toilet, I use less water each time I flush. In the arid West, this is a good thing, right? Maybe. Maybe not. In Albuquerque, essentially every gallon I flush, after treatment at our sewage plant, ends up in the river, available for downstream users. It’s called “return flow credit”, and …
The New York Times story about hyperlocal news offers a reminder of the mistake we’ve been making in the news biz: And so far, they have had only limited success selling ads. Remember the railroad metaphor. The discussion suggests the continued mistake of thinking we’re in the news business. We’ve been extraordinarily successful in delivering …
Continue reading ‘Elephant Diaries: What Business Are We In?’ »