What you probably won’t learn about America’s best idea
Water
Posted inWotr
The Poudre: A river besieged by thirsty cities
Colorado’s Cache la Poudre River flows east out of Rocky Mountain National Park and through a canyon northwest of Fort Collins. Along the way, like any other Western river, it is diverted to water croplands and fill washing machines. It is a magnet for rafters and fisher-folk, and the people of Fort Collins regard it […]
Posted inGoat
The River Dry
If we keep sucking down Colorado River water the way we have been (likely), and if climate change reduces the amount of water in the system (also likely) there’s a fifty-fifty chance that the system’s reservoirs will hit bottom by the middle of this century. That’s the stark conclusion of a new study released in […]
Posted inGoat
Nestle water plan approved
Last week, Nestle received approval to tap mountain spring water and haul it to Denver for bottling and distribution under its Arrowhead label. The approval came from a unanimous board of Chaffee County Commissioners, following months of deliberations and lengthy hearings. Chaffee County, with about 15,000 residents, sits along the Arkansas River in […]
Posted inGoat
Friends of the Forest
What do sixty volunteers, the U.S. Forest Service, Trout Unlimited and MillerCoors have in common? They’re all participating, in one way or another, in the Clear Creek restoration project at the Arapaho National Forest this Saturday, as part of the National Forest Foundation’s third annual Friends of the Forest Day. Other partners include the National […]
Posted inGoat
Stimulus funding targets irrigation efficiency
Drought intensified this summer throughout California and most of the West. Already over-allocated, water supplies are short across most of the West prompting irrigation cutbacks, dewatered streams, endangered species conflicts and protests in irrigation-dominated areas like the west-side of California’s San Joaquin Valley. Drought also exacerbates water quality problems; less streamflow means more concentration of […]
Posted inWotr
I can’t wait to drink wastewater
I’m not really a water connoisseur. I can’t tell the difference between bottled “mountain spring” water and ordinary tap water, and all the various brands of bottled water taste alike to me. There is, however, one kind of water I’m just longing to sip. Unfortunately, it’s not yet on the market, but I’m hoping it […]
Posted inJuly 27, 2009: The Most Cooked-Up Catch
Fightin’ words
Water entrepreneur Aaron Million is quoted as saying that if there were any problems with his proposed Wyoming-to-Colorado pipeline project, “I’d be the first to put a fork in it” (HCN, 7/20/09). To which I’d like to add my own thoughts: “What? After cutting up the public’s water, you’d dine on it?” Mr. Million is […]
Posted inWotr
One man’s salt must not burden another man’s water
The era of massive federal reclamation projects is long over, yet a changing climate will demand more work from less water. And so a new movement — watershed management — has quietly taken the place of building the big dams. Visit the tiny town of Mancos near Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado to […]
Posted inJuly 20, 2009: Thinking Outside the Timber Box
Wild Turkey, gunfire and big pipelines
Aaron Million’s quest to pipe Wyoming water to urban Colorado
Posted inGoat
Fossil Creek fracas
A few hours northeast of the 110-degree concrete jungle of Phoenix, Ariz., a powerful, cool creek courses through a lush oasis, creating blue-green swimming pools and dramatic waterfalls for campers and day-hikers. But lack of funding for a Forest Service management plan has allowed Fossil Creek to become a refuge for drug and alcohol use, […]
Posted inGoat
Catch a falling drop
Who owns the rain? In Colorado, you generally didn’t have any right to use the rain that fell on your property. But that’s changing, as the New York Times explained in a recent article. Now some property owners will be able to use rain barrels legally. Colorado’s water laws are arcane […]
Posted inGoat
Beaver and restoration – the rest of the story
The June 8th HCN edition included an excellent article on the potential for beaver to restore western watersheds and, in the process, improve water supplies. The piece, however, omitted a few important caveats: The movement to make a partnership with the Beaver People in order to restore western watersheds is welcome. But it is not […]
Posted inGoat
What the FRAC do we know?
Drilling for natural gas really hasn’t been the most natural process. Numerous reports of groundwater contamination have skeptics and homeowners worried over hydraulic fracturing, a process used in nine out of 10 natural gas wells in the U.S. But finally, some proposed legislation to oversee the drilling: Representatives in both the House and the Senate […]
Posted inArticles
Urban Creeks 2.0
In San Francisco’s East Bay, activists try to reconnect impoverished communities with their local waterways.
Posted inJune 1, 2009: Voyage of the Dammed
Rebooting Urban Watersheds
Activists restore blighted Bay Area creeks — and impoverished communities
Posted inGoat
Whoosh! Down it comes!
I spend a fair amount of time at the HCN office reading online news, and writing blogs like this one. It’s easy, when surrounded by abstractions, to feel a little bit cut off from what makes things work around here in Paonia. One quick antidote to that feeling is to go down to the river on my […]
Posted inWotr
When neighbors become cops
It’s a frustrating dilemma for many who conserve — watching other people squander the resource you’re trying to save. Maybe you’ve installed a low-flush toilet and a low-flow showerhead, but how can you convince that wastrel down the street to fix her sprinkler and stop using a hose for a broom? Don’t worry, help is […]
Posted inGoat
Poor Lake Powell
The snow’s melting fast here in Western Colorado’s mountains, thanks to a sudden surge in temperatures after a cool spring. A lot of dust on the snow is also contributing: The dust diminishes the snow’s reflectivity, meaning more of the sun’s heat penetrates the snow, meaning the snow melts quickly. As a result, the streams […]