Reporter Emily Guerin from LAist has a new deep, narrative dive into Colorado River negotiations. She takes a multi-layered, complex, wonky issue and turns it into a compelling, character-driven story.
Take a listen to episode one, out today:
laist.com/news/meet-the-…

'Sweeping Colorado River settlement will bring water, equity to Navajo communities' via azcentral by shí

azcentral.com/story/news/loc…

'When I saw that, I thought: Someone is stealing water.' Federal officials say he masterminded an epic California water heist. Some farmers say he’s their Robin Hood. A riveting story by jessica garrison: latimes.com/california/sto…

Came across some old photos of artesian wells in Las Vegas. They are wild.

Wrote a little post about free-flowing, freewheeling days when water sprayed up from the ground and waste that led, in part, to Nevada groundwater law. westernwaternotes.com/p/research-not…

As the Great Salt Lake recedes, scientists have a front-row seat to the crisis. I recently talked with GSLI Director Bonnie Baxter about the emotions of studying a dying lake. She shares how facing climate grief with her students has transformed her. hcn.org/articles/are-t…

This was a fascinating piece by Erica Gies / SlowWater.World exploring how to engineer marsh habitat 'without smothering the very ecosystem they’re trying to protect.'

What are baseflow droughts — and why should we care? ppic.org/blog/what-are-… From PPIC Water

🗓️ Join Freedom of the Press, Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) on May 2 at noon ET for a webinar: The Intersections of Press Freedom and the Environment

We will address obstacles U.S. journalists face when reporting urgent environmental issues for their communities.

RSVP: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

Wrote about PFAS in my newsletter today (westernwaternotes.com/p/the-scary-re…), featuring this illuminating Zoë Schlanger story about the challenges ahead:

“Maine is one step ahead in facing PFAS head-on—but also one step ahead in understanding just how hard that is.' theatlantic.com/science/archiv…

if you thought the Snake River diversion clip I posted yesterday was wild... wait until you hear about the plan to divert the Snake to the Humboldt, then divert it all to Owens Valley and L.A. (from USBR's Interim Report on Reconnaissance and discussed in Cadillac Desert)

whoa, today I learned there was once a proposal to divert the Snake River to the Great Salt Lake...

from the Silver State (Winnemucca, Nev.), March 1901

Some BIG news from The Markup and CalMatters.

California will be an incredible testbed to ground The Markup's work, plus, the combo of investigative + public service means our journalism will build real, long-standing relationships with communities.

California takes a big action on groundwater. 'The unprecedented decision is a first step that could eventually lead to the state wresting control of a groundwater basin in a severely depleted part of the San Joaquin Valley,' @RA_Becks writes. calmatters.org/environment/wa…

'The whole story needs to be told.' Western Shoshone and Goshute leaders are pushing the Biden administration to designate Bahsahwahbee National Monument, the site of three massacres during religious gatherings. hcn.org/articles/nevad…

Interesting charts here from @land_desk showing what amount of hay in Colorado River states is actually shipped overseas and where it all goes. landdesk.org/p/data-dump-ex…

Dispatch from the Lake Manly Yacht Club, by Meg Bernhard
newyorker.com/magazine/2024/…

What do you get when you combine beautiful mountains, a town with no government, and a developer eager for influence and backed by a private equity firm? Probably something like Big Sky, Montana.

On the future of skiing in the West for Harper's Magazine
harpers.org/archive/2024/0…

Federal officials have discovered damage inside Glen Canyon Dam that could force limits on how much Colorado River water is released at low reservoir levels, raising risks the Southwest could face shortages that were previously unforeseen. latimes.com/environment/st…

'Recharge has benefited farmers and fish in western communities like Idaho’s Eastern Snake River Plain and California’s Central Valley, and the group believes the data shows it can work in the Teton Basin. They hope it can.' mountainjournal.org/teton-valley-g…

Here’s a clip about my Coffee Barons

Special thanks to the sponsors of my talk: Dept of Ag and Applied Econ, Dept of Community & Envir Sociology, UW Center for Cooperatives, Center for Integrated Ag Systems, and the LaFollette School of Public Affairs.