On a mid-October afternoon at the bottom of a sheer canyon on Northern California’s Trinity River, a Hupa Indian named Amos Pole babies a jet boat against the rushing current. For the Hupas, this craggy chasm is a sort of psychic power spot. Dense stands of fir crowd down to the edge of the river, […]
Matt Jenkins
Posted inDecember 20, 2010: California Dreamin'
California’s Tangled Water Politics
The Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta, formed where the two rivers meet in California’s Central Valley before flowing into San Francisco Bay, is the largest estuary on the entire West Coast of the Americas. But much of the Delta is a remote, labyrinthine wateriness that, for most people, exists only in the mind, wrapped in […]
Posted inArticles
Shadowing fishermen’s nets with a robot sub
New research sheds light on life at 90 fathoms
Posted inMay 24, 2010: Accidental Wilderness
Last rites in salmon country?
As California’s water war grinds on, salmon fishermen gear up for a risky season
Posted inApril 26, 2010: Nevada's Pot of Gold
Viva la Archives!
Budget cuts threaten California water’s institutional memory
Posted inJanuary 11, 2010: Breakdown
‘The Cadillac of California irrigation districts’
Westlands has more than a tiny fish to blame for its troubles.
Posted inNovember 9, 2009: Roadless-less
Gone in 60 seconds
Wheelin’ & dealin’ at the world’s biggest Western art auction
Posted inOctober 26, 2009: The newest Westerners
The diplomacy of water
Water and the West: The Colorado River Compact and the Politics of Water in the American West (Second Edition)Norris Hundley Jr.433 pages, softcover: $24.95; hardcover: $60.University of California Press, 2009. Norris Hundley’s book Water and the West has long stood as the classic account of the epic negotiations to divide up the Colorado River’s water. […]
Posted inOctober 12, 2009: Silenced Springs?
Biotech beet-down
Judge orders a new, hard look at Monsanto’s sugar beets
Posted inOctober 12, 2009: Silenced Springs?
Vegas forges ahead on pipeline plan
Great Basin pumping project is closer to reality
Posted inJuly 27, 2009: The Most Cooked-Up Catch
The Most Cooked-Up Catch
Saving fisheries — and taking the edge off the dangerous derby of the sea.
Posted inMarch 2, 2009: How low will it go?
How low will it go?
Colorado may face a dry and difficult future of fighting for water
Posted inOctober 27, 2008: Prophets and politics
Liquid assets
‘Water banks’ help cities weather drought
Posted inAugust 25, 2008: Hot Wheels
The Mog Squad
The venerable — and very German — quest for the ultimate weapon against wildfire
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Peace on the Klamath
The enemies in the West’s most vicious water war have finally reached a ceasefire. This is the story of how it happened.
Posted inMarch 17, 2008: Seeking the Water Jackpot
Seeking the Water Jackpot
For almost a century, the Navajo Tribe has been left out of the Colorado River water game. Now, they’re ready to play their hand.
Posted inWotr
Seeing the light in 2008
Two days ago, enlightenment arrived on my doorstep. It came tucked inside a plain little box that looked like it was sized to fit some fancy soaps, and bore a return address for Aspen Ski Co., the Colorado ski-resort giant. For years, a ski-patroller-turned-chef named Bob and I spent our winters skiing Aspen. Each time […]
Posted inNovember 12, 2007: L.A. Bets on the Farm
L.A. Bets on the Farm
Faced with unprecedented drought, the West’s most powerful water agency is mixing Wall Street tactics and rice farm supplies to hedge against Southern California’s risk of going dry.
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Cutting trees to save the forest
Leveraged buyouts are the newest tool in forest restoration