Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #coloradoriver

Most recents (14)

The #ColoradoRiver news we heard at last week's @sjquinney symposium was stark. As the reservoirs behind Hoover and Glen Canyon dams drop, we have huge problems. But the biggest news you didn't hear is worth noting too.

A thread (1/n)
@sjquinney #ColoradoRiver water users are currently consuming 14-15 million acre feet from a river that's only offered 12.3maf in the 21st century. (See drained reservoirs as a result). (2/n)
@sjquinney Reclamation is scrambling to figure out how to operate Glen Canyon Dam under these lower reservoir conditions. It could be forced to use big reservoir-draining pipes that have basically never been used in this way. (3/n)
Read 15 tweets
/1 I spent the weekend looking at various locations on Lake Powell. A short thread follows on what I saw and my impressions. Lake Powell is the 2nd largest reservoir in the US. Since 2000 flows in #ColoradoRiver are down by 20%, half due to #climatechange.
/2 Here's a look at Powell contents since 2000. We're at 3545 (right axis) now, about 7 maf out of 25 maf possible. It is stunning how low the lake is.
/3 I visited Bullfrog Marina, the overlook that shows Hite Marina and the river now down cutting through 50-year-old lake sediments, the new Cataract Canyon takeout, Wahweap Marina, Glen Canyon Dam, and Antelope Point Marina.
Read 14 tweets
Daily Bookmarks to GAVNet 08/19/2021 greeneracresvaluenetwork.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/dai…
This is how western states must change because of the Colorado River water shortage

marketwatch.com/story/this-is-…

#ColoradoRiver #WaterShortage #PolicyChange #WaterRights #OpEd
4760 pieces of trash compose 'perpetual plastic' data sculpture on bali beach

designboom.com/art/perpetual-…

#PublicArt #DataSculpture #repurposing #PlasticWaste #BaliBeach
Read 8 tweets
Daily Bookmarks to GAVNet 08/18/2021 greeneracresvaluenetwork.wordpress.com/2021/08/18/dai…
New clean energy tech extracts twice the power from ocean waves

techxplore.com/news/2021-08-e…

#CleanEnergyTechnology #OceanWaves #PowerHarvesting #efficiency
This town is the first in America to ban new gas stations – is the tide turning?

theguardian.com/us-news/2021/a…

#GasStations #moratorium #california #TransportationSystem #usa #consequences
Read 8 tweets
Breaking: The federal government has declared a shortage on the Colorado River for the first time, announcing mandatory water cutbacks next year that will affect Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.

Story coming w/ @zaynasyed_ via @azcenvironment
Here's where things stand. Lake Mead, the largest reservoir at the country, has declined to its lowest levels since it was filled in the 1930s following the construction of Hoover Dam. Based on the reservoir level, the Lower Basin will be in a tier-one shortage in 2022.
Arizona Dept. of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke says based on the latest projections, representatives of AZ, CA and NV have begun to meet to discuss additional steps. "This is a serious turn of events but not a crisis."
Read 6 tweets
As we await this afternoon's entirely unsurprising #ColoradoRiver shortage declaration, a few thoughts from Science Be Dammed - How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River, by @R_EricKuhn and myself. (1/n)
(Out this week in paperback from our friends at @AZpress - timing-wise, it's better to be lucky than to be good - uapress.arizona.edu/book/science-b… )
As Congress in the mid-1920s was deliberating ratification of the #ColoradoRiver Compact and authorization of Hoover Dam, a USGS hydrologist named Eugene Clyde LaRue tried to warn then (3/n)
Read 5 tweets
'Damn the status quo': At Hoover Dam, a new coalition calls for stopping plans for new diversions of water from the depleted Colorado River azcentral.com/story/news/loc… By @antonldelgado & me
@azcenvironment
Members of the coalition condemned plans for Utah's Lake Powell Pipeline. “While the Lower Basin is going on a diet of cutting its water use, we should not let the Upper Basin go on an all-you-can-eat buffet.” azcentral.com/story/news/loc… @antonldelgado #ColoradoRiver
.@KyleRoerink1: "This is a strange bedfellows coalition. We’ve got farmers. We’ve got enviros. We’ve got businesses. We’re the type of coalition that they say can’t be put together. But we’re here to say, damn the status quo. No more business as usual." azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
Read 8 tweets
Breaking:
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country, has declined to the lowest level since it was filled in the 1930s following the construction of Hoover Dam. Story coming soon via @azcentral/@USATODAY
#ColoradoRiver
In the meantime, here's our recent story about the rapidly declining water levels at Lake Mead, where they're moving marinas and extending boat ramps along the shifting shorelines.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/… @HenleMark @azcenvironment
Lake Mead has dropped to its lowest level since 1937. At that time, Hoover Dam had just been built and the reservoir was being filled. The crisis on the Colorado River continues to deepen. azcentral.com/in-depth/news/… @HenleMark @azcenvironment
Read 5 tweets
Where Lake Mead now stands, approaching a first-ever shortage

These charts show the reservoir's level and how much it's dropped since 2000. Part of a presentation by Arizona water agencies on preparing for shortages.
azcentral.com/story/news/loc… #ColoradoRiver
The country's two largest reservoirs sit at about one-third of their full capacity.

Lake Powell is now at 35%, and Lake Mead at 38%

Here's the presentation that's being discussed at the meeting: cap-az.com/documents/depa… #ColoradoRiver
Arizona is in line for the largest water cutbacks, which will reduce the Central Arizona Project’s water supply by nearly a third and shrink the amount flowing through the CAP Canal to farmlands in Pinal County.
azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
Read 3 tweets
State water officials holding 1st meeting of the AZ Reconsultation Committee, starting a new round of #ColoradoRiver discussions. Topics include:
• Status of the implementation of DCP
• Process to prepare AZ for the reconsultation of the 2007 Guidelines
new.azwater.gov/sites/default/…
Tom Buschatzke of @azwater discusses goals in the process of developing new post-2026 #ColoradoRiver rules. Among them: 'Balance the need for certainty with the need for flexibility to address changing conditions and circumstances.'
Read 10 tweets
The #ColoradoRiver #DCP has been signed. Now what? A thread of articles pondering this question:
Sessions 7 & 8 of @landpolicy's recent #WaterMeetsLand Journalists Forum: lincolninst.edu/courses-events…
Read 17 tweets
Ready for a great discussion: "Beyond #DCP: Long Term #Water #Sustainability for the #ColoradoRiver Basin" thanks to @DCDC_ASU
.@PHXWaterAdvisor says #DCP did nothing to address the structural deficit built into the #ColoradoRiver compact. That needs to be key to next round of negotiations starting next year.
Solutions focusing only on the biggest water consumer in #Arizona - agriculture - are not adequate to solve the bigger issue, according to Chelsea McGuire with the @azfb
Read 9 tweets
A terrific discussion about environmental journalism today with @cynthiabarnett @LukeRunyon @noahgshannon @AbrahmL, moderated by @gburton. Luke joked at the beginning that the panel was probably, from left to right, 'moving from most optimistic to most pessimistic.' #Journalism
Lots of insightful points in the conversation, which ranged from a discussion of optimism/pessimism in reporting on climate change to the idea of a board game designed around managing water. Going to share a few of their comments.
.@cynthiabarnett praised @jfleck: "When I’ve done reporting on water in New Mexico, I’m always amazed at the number of people who talk about John Fleck as someone who helped change the ethos of the Albuquerque community, which now uses half the water that it used in the mid-90s."
Read 14 tweets
HAPPENING NOW: our Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee is listening to voices from the 7 different states that make up the #ColoradoRiver basin this morning. After a 19-year drought, we’re working together to prevent water shortages. Join us LIVE ➡️ bit.ly/2HGkbS6
“The Colorado River basin is in danger. We are currently experiencing its worst drought in recorded history.” - Brenda Burman, Commissioner @usbr

Climate change is making this worse. We need to work together and take this seriously.
Early next week, Chair @RepRaulGrijalva will introduce a bill with support from all 7 Colorado River Basin states & regional tribes that authorizes the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan. It will preserve water for the Southwest and the 40 million Americans who live there.
Read 7 tweets

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