(April 9, 2009, The Miami Herald)
Everglades marshes and Big Cypress swamps are drying up. Estuaries at the mouths of the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers are turning too salty. Lake Okeechobee, brimming from Tropical Storm Fay less than a year ago, is slipping into the low zone again.
If smoke wafting from Palmetto Bay brush fires [...]
(April 2, 2009, The New York Times)
For about a mile, a steady stream of water flows down Bear Canyon before finally petering out in the sand near a golf course. The arroyo is not supposed to be wet this time of year; the spring snowmelt does not usually occur until later in the season. But [...]
(March 19, 2009, The Los Angeles Times)
State officials announced Wednesday they will deliver more water to Southern California this year than previously predicted but cautioned that shipments will remain well below normal.
State water resources director Lester Snow said “a series of very beneficial storms in February and early March” prompted his department to increase allocations [...]
(March 18, 2009, The New York Times)
Don’t expect the future to look much like the past, at least when it comes to the Earth’s fresh water supplies. That’s the message emerging from a major international meeting being held here this week.
More than 27,000 people — including government ministers from more than 120 countries — have [...]
(March 5, 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune)
I have a classic Western postcard tacked to the bulletin board above my computer. It shows two men in a field holding shovels over their heads, locked in mock battle. Behind them runs an irrigation ditch. The caption reads: “Discussing Western Water Rights, A Western Pastime.”
I know firsthand how [...]
(March 6, 2009, David Zetland, Aguanomics)
(via DW) The Mayor’s office sent out this press release [pdf] yesterday:
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders is calling on all San Diegans to step up water conservation efforts in the wake of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s state of emergency declaration for California’s water supplies.
“The Governor’s message is right on target,” said [...]
(Feb. 28, 2009, The San Bernardino Sun)
Water is one of California’s most vexing challenges.
Most of the state’s rainfall comes in Northern California and its snowpack is in the Sierra Nevada range. But most of the users are in Southern California and the Central Valley, where agriculture is the main consumer.
There are obstacles at every step [...]
(Feb. 20, 2009, Associated Press)
Federal water managers said Friday that they plan to cut off water, at least temporarily, to thousands of California farms as a result of the deepening drought gripping the state.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said parched reservoirs and patchy rainfall this year were forcing them to completely stop surface water deliveries [...]
(Feb. 5, 2009, The Mercury News)
The drought took an ominous turn Thursday when state and federal water managers said they cannot meet a standard that protects Delta fish habitat without the risk of running out of cold water salmon must have in the months to come.
In effect, the managers can either release water from reservoirs [...]
(Jan. 23, 2009, Aguanomics)
Speaking of water managers out of control, Aquadoc mentions “ethics” in this WaterWired post:
Several years ago, I listened to a talk by a Federal scientist about climate change in the Southwest. After the talk, he was unusually candid. What really annoyed him was seeing Western governors trekking to DC, hats in hands, [...]
