I was talking to Eric Kuhn Thursday (write a book together – bonded for life) who pointed out that the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center has started running its models for 2025 runoff. They don’t look good. It’s way too early to think of this as a “forecast.” But they provide a feel for where …
Continue reading ‘Lousy start to the Colorado/Rio Grande 2024-25 snowpack season’ »
There’s a pedestrian alley in my neighborhood that provides an important link for the low-stress version of my bike commute. The neighborhood, built in the 1950s, has a few of them, but they don’t get much use. People don’t walk much any more. Which I guess is why someone thought it would be OK to …
Continue reading ‘Peter Kropotkin and the alley behind my neighborhood gas station’ »
It’s that time of year when I’m looking for a storm a week to build a snowpack. More is better. Zero is not better.
The guy seemed puzzled by my presence. I guess I looked lost – why else would an old guy on a bike be riding down a road that dead ends in a junk yard? He wasn’t fazed by my explanation: “I’m trying to ride on every road in Albuquerque, and I haven’t ridden on this …
My kid, Nora Reed, penned an insightful thread yesterday about the nature of the their work – they run a jewelry shop, still not too late* for holiday gift giving! – and the nature of craft and art: a thing i think about a lot when figuring out both packaging for the business and the …
Research comparing pedestrian behavior in Bryant Park and outside the Met, 1979-1980 versus 2008-2010: The biggest change in behavior was that lingering fell dramatically. The amount of time spent just hanging out dropped by about half across the measured locations. I personally am a fan of “lingering” and “just hanging out.” Via Tyler Cowen
One of the hopeful notes coming out of the recent Colorado River discussions is the way the operation of Glen Canyon Dam in a more flexible way, to accommodate a broader range of values, is back on the table. The USBR alternatives released ahead of this week’s Colorado River Water Users Association, while requiring some …
By Jack Schmidt | December 3, 2024 Drawdown of the Colorado River’s reservoirs now slightly exceeds the amount of gain that occurred during the 2024 snowmelt season. For the next four months until snowmelt begins again, the basin’s reservoirs will be drawing from the excess accumulated in 2023, demonstrating the immense challenge in balancing water …
My colleagues with the Colorado River Research Group have a new policy brief out today taking another whack at the question of “assigned water” – water kinda sorta conserved, but left in storage so water agencies can pull it out again at some future date. Think “Intentionally Created Surplus” (ICS). At this point, nearly 40 …
Continue reading ‘Does our current approach to Colorado River accounting hide a looming problem?’ »
As near as I can tell from a lazy visit to the Wayback Machine, it was sometime around 2014 that I added the old Metropolitan Water District Colorado River Aqueduct map to my blog header. It’s a lovely map that has served me well these many years, but it doesn’t match my brand any more. …
Continue reading ‘A minor blog redesign, which is a metaphor’ »