One of the great things about living in Montana is state law allowing public access to any stream, no matter whose monster home lies alongside it. But just a few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Montana Trout Unlimited saying the national group wanted to back away from involvement in any dispute — and […]
Water
Posted inArticles
The Klamath dams by the numbers
Removing the four salmon-blocking dams on the Klamath may prove even cheaper than regulators first thought. The California Energy Commission just re-ran the numbers, comparing the costs of removing the dams versus retrofitting them for fish passage. The results, released March 24, say it would cost PacifiCorp $114 million less to breach the dams than […]
Posted inApril 2, 2007: Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields
Harvesting the sky
Thirsty Santa Fe catches on to catching rainwater
Posted inWotr
Grassroots activists battle a national environmental group
One of the great things about living in Montana is state law allowing public access to any stream, no matter whose monster home lies alongside it. But just a weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Montana Trout Unlimited that said the national group wanted to back away from involvement in any dispute — and […]
Posted inWotr
When wealthy landowners and locals collide
Does a trout know who owns the body of water it lives in? This is not a Buddhist riddle. The answer is: Of course not. All a trout, elk or black-footed ferret cares about is whether the water or land can sustain them. Some of us have forgotten that unadorned fact. Motivated by laudable concerns […]
Posted inArticles
The Gila’s Monster
Cottonwoods support the banks of New Mexico’s Gila River, and sycamores shade endangered Southwestern willow flycatchers and threatened loach minnows. For those who live near it, the Gila – the state’s last free-flowing river – is both a source of water and a font of contention. In 2004, the Arizona Water Settlements Act re-distributed some […]
Posted inArticles
Elwha River dams move closer to destruction
Last week, the long-anticipated removal of two dams on Washington’s Elwha River took a giant step closer to reality when the state Department of Ecology gave the project the go-ahead. The dams’ removal will help floundering salmon populations. Prior to their construction in the early 1900s, all five Pacific salmon species had spawned prolifically in […]
Posted inMarch 5, 2007: Wish You Weren’t Here
Stream leases languish
Efforts to privatize instream-flow protection fall short
Posted inMarch 5, 2007: Wish You Weren’t Here
Don’t move a mussel
Whether you raft, kayak, fish or swim in Western waters, you can make sure quagga mussels — and other aquatic invasives — don’t travel with you. Here’s how. Before leaving any body of water: Inspect your boat, trailer, clothing and any other wet gear for plants, fish or animals, and remove them on site. Wash […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 2007: One nation, under fire
New Mexico’s water rebel
Name: Bill Turner Fond Childhood Memory: Listening to the Lone Ranger radio show: “Good will prevail.” Coffee or Tea: Coffee, black, in a to-go cup with a few cubes of ice Resume Excerpts: Firewall riveter for Navy S2F submarine-hunter aircraft (1958); Peace Corps volunteer and geologist in Cyprus (1963-1964); New Mexico natural resources trustee (1995-2003); […]
Posted inFebruary 5, 2007: The Efficiency Paradox
The Efficiency Paradox
Why water conservation along the Colorado River — a much-vaunted silver bullet for the West’s coming era of shortage — could have devastating environmental costs
Posted inJanuary 22, 2007: Salmon Justice
Salmon Justice
An interview with U.S. District Judge Jim Redden, who’s given uncooperative federal agencies clear warning: Submit a viable salmon restoration plan for the Snake/Columbia River Basin, or face the possible breaching of four major dams.
Posted inJanuary 22, 2007: Salmon Justice
History of a decline
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Salmon Justice.” Pre-European settlement: The Columbia/Snake River Basin produces between 10 million and 16 million salmon, making it the most bountiful salmon spawning ground in the world. 1933: President Franklin Roosevelt authorizes Bonneville Dam about 40 miles east of Portland, Ore., the first major […]
Posted inDecember 11, 2006: Old but Faithful
River Redux
Thanks to a historic and grudging compromise, water and salmon head back to the San Joaquin River, six decades after they were taken out.
Posted inNovember 27, 2006: The West: A New Center of Power
An encyclopedia of rivers
Rivers are the “nerve system” of the continent’s ecology, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reminds us in his foreword to Rivers of North America. As population, industry and agriculture grow, the need for fresh water increases. But meeting that demand often entails the wholesale diverting, damming and draining of rivers. Rivers of North America is the […]
Posted inNovember 27, 2006: The West: A New Center of Power
Somewhere up the crazy river
Robin Carey’s Upstream: Sons, Fathers and Rivers is a riveting story of river ascent, with a family’s troubled history unfolding along the way. Rob and his son, Dev, former “down river” guides, decide to kayak from the mouth of the Klamath River in California 200 miles up to Oregon’s Klamath Lake. They want to learn […]
Posted inWotr
A Utah resort town welcomes 300,000 foreigners
In Moab, Utah, a town constantly visited by jeepers and hikers from all over the world, the arrival of 300,000 beings from Kazakhstan hasn’t received much press. But as the newcomers flutter in and make themselves more at home, people are starting to take notice. Diorhabda elongata is their sexy name, and most of us, […]
Posted inOctober 30, 2006: Peace Breaks Out In New Mexico's Forests
Pueblo water battle nears its end
Aamodt case tries to untangle centuries of water use in northern New Mexico
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
One dam down; four in limbo
Endangered Lost River and short-nose sucker fish in Oregon’s Klamath Basin may get some relief, now that the Modoc Point Irrigation District has voted to remove the Chiloquin dam and re-establish access to spawning habitat on the Sprague River, a tributary of the Klamath. The Interior Department will foot the $15-to-$16 million bill to take […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Getting out of the office, and into hot water
NAME Jeff Mount VOCATION Geology professor AGE 52 HOME BASE Davis, California KNOWN FOR Pointing out that building houses below sea level and surrounding them with weak levees is a recipe for disaster MOST RECENT EXPLOIT On a dare from his son, giving up his raft to kayak the Grand Canyon this summer: “I saw […]