Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Farmer Doug McCabe didn’t wait for the Bureau of Reclamation to announce that it wasn’t delivering any water this year. With only junior water rights, he suspected that drought would force the agency to cut his water off early in […]
Water
Posted inAugust 13, 2001: No refuge in the Klamath Basin
Klamath’s federal agencies map different realities
Maps are no more objective than any other documents. Just look at the ones of the Klamath Basin produced by its two federal landlords. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation portrays the basin as a network of reservoirs and canals designed to deliver water to farms. Since parts of the basin have no natural outlets, areas […]
Posted inJuly 30, 2001: Not in our back yard
Wetland degrader swims in murky waters
IDAHO John Simpson concedes that he was “a bit naive” when, in 1997, he began clearing debris and beaver dams out of what he believed was an old side channel of the Salmon River on his central Idaho ranch. Bothered by the mosquito-infested swamps created by the dams, Simpson wanted to restore water flow that […]
Posted inJuly 2, 2001: Can Nevada bury Yucca Mountain?
Missing: One truckload of fuel
COLORADO After a six-month search, more than 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel are still missing from a Summit County ski resort. In January, when the fuel was delivered to Copper Mountain, the driver reportedly pumped it into a water-quality monitoring well instead of an underground storage tank. Although officials were able to recover 150 gallons […]
Posted inJune 4, 2001: Tribal links
Lake Coeur d’Alene at stake
IDAHO Locked in a custody battle over the southern third of Lake Coeur d’Alene, the Coeur d’Alene tribe and the State of Idaho are arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court. Idaho says the entire lake falls under its aegis. The tribe, however, claims partial ownership under the 19th century treaty that established its reservation. “It’s […]
Posted inMay 21, 2001: Quenching the big thirst
High court weeds out pesticides
OREGON For years, irrigation districts and golf course operators have used pesticides in irrigation canals to battle pesky weeds that choke the flow of water. But a few years ago, an aquatic herbicide in southern Oregon didn’t kill just plants. More than 90,000 young steelhead trout died in 1996 when the chemical acrolein leaked from […]
Posted inMay 21, 2001: Quenching the big thirst
Will the Met wring the desert dry?
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. With California’s Colorado River binge nearing an end, the state is looking for new ways to bring water to its desert cities. The Metropolitan Water District (the Met) has its eye on the sun-scoured Mojave Desert, where a series of underground aquifers lie waiting […]
Posted inMay 21, 2001: Quenching the big thirst
Quenching the big thirst
Will a plan to curb California’s use of the Colorado River hold water?
Posted inMay 7, 2001: Back into the woods
Shoring up wetlands protection
Wetlands protection received a boost on April 16, when the Bush administration announced it will stand by the “Tulloch Rule,” a last-minute Clinton regulation that had been delayed 60 days for review (HCN, 2/12/01). Now, the use of mechanized earth-moving equipment for excavation in wetlands must receive a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, […]
Posted inMay 7, 2001: Back into the woods
Kayakers seek water rights
COLORADO The city of Golden is known as the home of both the Colorado School of Mines and Coors beer. But that image is changing. The city’s kayak course on Clear Creek has put Golden on the map of recreational boaters from around the country. There’s one small problem with the course: Golden has no […]
Posted inApril 23, 2001: The Big Blowup
Islands hung out to dry
IDAHO Idaho irrigators gave a sigh of relief when, on Feb. 23, the Idaho Supreme Court denied the federal government’s attempt to secure water rights for a wildlife refuge composed of 94 islands in the Snake River. The federal government had hoped to reserve a steady flow of water for the Deer Flats National Wildlife […]
Posted inApril 9, 2001: The water empress of Vegas
End of a dam saga
For the past two years, Jim Trees, the founder of the Grand Canyon Trust, has endured criticism over his plan to reconstruct an historic dam in a wilderness study area inside Zion National Park. Now the green leader and organic apple farmer from southwest Utah has come up with an “environmentally friendly” solution that should […]
Posted inApril 9, 2001: The water empress of Vegas
Mystery on the Colorado
Glen and Bessie Hyde floated the Green and Colorado rivers on their honeymoon in 1928. Aboard a two-ton sweep scow made from scrounged wood, and with a little experience gleaned from rivers in Idaho, the newlyweds made their way through Labyrinth, Stillwater, Cataract and Glen canyons before facing the awesome power of the Colorado in […]
Posted inApril 9, 2001: The water empress of Vegas
The water empress of Vegas
How Patricia Mulroy quenched Sin City’s thirst
Posted inMarch 26, 2001: Teach the children well
Demonstrating for the delta
UTAH With the simple rallying cry “1 percent for the delta,” environmentalists hope to overcome the complexities of Colorado River politics and send some water to the river’s dying delta in Mexico (HCN, 7/3/00: A river resurrected: The Colorado River Delta gets a second chance). On March 5, 120 groups led by the Glen Canyon […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Water Watch
Boulder, Colo., residents can now check on the health of their watershed by surfing the Web. The Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network (BASIN) Web site publishes water quality indicators and trends in the Boulder Creek watershed, which provides water for the city of Boulder. The site also includes snowpack information, an air-quality index, and information […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Wetlands get dumped on
A Supreme Court decision has stripped as much as one-fifth of the nation’s wetlands of federal protection. The January decision, which ended a legal battle between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a solid waste agency in Illinois, asserted that the Corps has no authority to regulate “isolated” waters unless they are used in […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Fiddling with FERC
NORTHWEST If you thought renewing your driver’s license was a pain, try being a dam owner. Every 30 to 50 years, privately owned dams must apply for a new operating license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the process is neither fast nor cheap. On average, the process drags on for about five […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Priests preach to the choir: Protect the Columbia
The Roman Catholic Church isn’t traditionally considered the home of radical greens. But 12 bishops from the Pacific Northwest and Canada have jumped into the environmental fray, and in late February, they released a long-awaited and controversial pastoral letter about the Columbia River (HCN, 9/11/00: Holy water). The letter, nourished by three years of discussion […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Divided Waters
A water crisis lurks beneath a sprawling border metropolis