Archive of entries posted by jfleck
Keeping eyes on process
Allen Best gives us a good first pass in his niche (the Big Pivot) on the on-the-ground impact of the attempted freeze on Inflation Reduction Act funds on rural electricity in Colorado: Electrical cooperatives in Colorado have been promised well more than a billion dollars in federal aid through the New ERA program. The carve-out …
Anne Castle steps down as the federal representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission
Worth sharing in full: January 28, 2025 Re: Resignation as U.S. Commissioner to Upper Colorado River Commission Dear (addressee redacted) As requested, I am submitting my resignation as U.S. Commissioner and Chair of the Upper Colorado River Commission, effective January 27, 2025. I was honored to be appointed by President Biden to this position and …
AI as physical and social infrastructure
Seen only as a collection of concrete and light poles, a highway is not racist. But the highway is a system within a system, and its path through a city or town can trace the boundaries set by prejudice. These paths are carved into cities based on decisions that prioritize categories of people through a …
Continue reading ‘AI as physical and social infrastructure’ »
Space graffiti
And out of the ground the lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. – Genesis 2-19 (King James) When I was a youngster …
The January 2025 24-month study is a major caution sign for the Colorado River Basin
By Eric Kuhn, John Fleck, and Jack Schmidt On January 16th, the Bureau of Reclamation released the January 2025 24-Month Study. Based on the January 1st runoff forecast into Lake Powell, the projected “most probable” annual release from Glen Canyon Dam for Water Year 2026 is now 7.48 maf. This needs to be taken as …
Stable on the Colorado River: When “good” is not good enough
By John Fleck and Jack Schmidt Preliminary year-end Colorado River numbers are stark. Total basin-wide storage for the last two years has stabilized, oscillating between 30 and 27 maf (million acre-feet), where storage sits at the start of 2025[1]. That is lower than any sustained period since the River’s reservoirs were built (Fig. 1). Stable …
Continue reading ‘Stable on the Colorado River: When “good” is not good enough’ »
Water for Navajo is the latest victim of Colorado River Basin governance dysfunction
Winters rights are no match for the current dysfunction of Colorado River Basin governance. Shannon Mullane at the Colorado Sun has been on this, and last week had some useful details: Advocates of a deal to secure reliable water for thousands of tribal members in Arizona raced to win Congressional approval until the final hours …
Dying embers
Matt Pearce, formerly of the LA Times, shares the sadness I feel about the calling to which I devoted so much of my life: One of the odd experiences of this week’s local disaster for me was that it was my first in years where I wasn’t working in a newsroom, a privileged position where …
Lousy Rio Grande snowpack, but the runoff forecast is not as bad as I thought!
The January NRCS Rio Grande runoff forecast is lousy: a mid-point forecast of 65 percent of average at Otowi (upstream of Albuquerque) and 37 percent of average at San Marcial (downstream of Albuquerque). Based on the current snowpack, I expected worse. Forecaster Karl Wetlaufer, in the email distributing the numbers, explains: After a wet start …
Continue reading ‘Lousy Rio Grande snowpack, but the runoff forecast is not as bad as I thought!’ »