Water/Drought - Inside Climate News

Colorado River States Have Two Different Plans for Managing Water. Here’s Why They Disagree

By Alex Hager, KUNC — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 10:00:00 +0000

States in the Upper Basin say climate change hits them hardest and want to reduce the amount of water they release from Lake Powell. Lower Basin states want to include other reservoirs in the calculation of how much is available.

By Alex Hager, KUNC

The seven states that use water from the Colorado River have proposed competing plans for how the river should be managed in the future. They’re split into two factions, with the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming on one side, and their Lower Basin counterparts—California, Arizona and Nevada—on the other.

Study Pinpoints Links Between Melting Arctic Ice and Summertime Extreme Weather in Europe

By Bob Berwyn — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 10:10:00 +0000

New research shows how last year’s warming melted ice in Greenland that increased flows of fresh, cold water into the North Atlantic, upsetting ocean currents in ways that lead to atmospheric changes.

By Bob Berwyn

The Arctic Ocean is mostly enclosed by the coldest parts of the Northern Hemisphere’s continents, ringed in by Siberia, Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, with only a small opening to the Pacific through the Bering Strait, and some narrow channels through the labyrinth of Canada’s Arctic archipelago.

Railroad Commission Approves Toxic Waste Ponds Next to Baptist Camp

By Martha Pskowski — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Martin Water is building an oil and gas waste recycling facility next to the Circle 6 Baptist Camp in the Permian Basin despite concerns of water and air pollution.

By Martha Pskowski

State of Denial: A continuing series about Texas’ environmental regulators.

A medida que aumentan las temperaturas, más trabajadores mueren en el campo

By Liza Gross, Peter Aldhous — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 09:30:00 +0000

Decenas de trabajadores agrícolas en California están muriendo por el calor en regiones con contaminación ambiental persistente, incluso en un estado cuyas normas sobre el trabajo a la intemperie están entre las más estrictas del país.

By Liza Gross, Peter Aldhous

Read this article in English.

How One of the Nation’s Fastest Growing Counties Plans to Find Water in the Desert

By David Condos, KUER — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 10:00:00 +0000

The booming population in the southwest corner of Utah has tapped out the Virgin River and its dreams of piping water from Lake Powell are running dry with the reservoir, leaving wastewater recycling and conservation as the best options to keep watering the growth.

By David Condos, KUER

Like many places across the West, two things are on a collision course in Utah’s southwest corner: growth and water.

Utah Legislature Takes Aim at Rights of Nature Movement

By Katie Surma — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 19:21:06 +0000

Nonhuman entities like corporations and municipalities have long had “legal personhood” in U.S. law. Now, Utah lawmakers want to prevent lakes, forests and other parts of nature from having the same legal status.

By Katie Surma

Lawmakers in Utah are advancing legislation aimed at stopping a growing “rights of nature” movement that has coalesced around efforts in the state to save the Great Salt Lake, which is drying up as a combination of climate change, development and agriculture drain on its freshwater sources.

Environmentalists See Nevada Supreme Court Ruling Bringing State’s Water Management ‘Into the 21st Century’

By Wyatt Myskow — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 10:00:00 +0000

The court ruled that the state can restrict new groundwater pumping if it will impact other users and wildlife, a decision environmentalists are calling a major win in updating the state’s water law.

By Wyatt Myskow

The Nevada Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week that the state can restrict new groundwater pumping if it will impact other users and wildlife, a decision that strikes a blow to the plan of a developer that at one time hoped to build a new city of 250,000 people in the Mojave Desert and could shift how groundwater is managed in the driest U.S. state.

A Historic and Devastating Drought in the Amazon Was Caused by Climate Change, Researchers Say

By Georgina Gustin — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 17:24:42 +0000

A new report untangles the impact of global warming on an “exceptional” drought across the world’s largest land-based carbon sink.

By Georgina Gustin

Climate change was the primary driver of a massive drought in the Amazon basin in 2023 and will likely cause future extreme droughts, with potentially dire consequences for global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from World Weather Attribution.

Groundwater Levels Around the World Are Dropping Quickly, Often at Accelerating Rates

By Liza Gross — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Rapid declines are most common in aquifers under croplands in drier regions, including California, the most extensive analysis of groundwater trends so far shows.

By Liza Gross

Groundwater supplies are dwindling in aquifers around the world, a groundbreaking new study found, with the rates of decline accelerating over the past four decades in nearly a third of aquifers studied.

Another Hot, Dry Summer May Push Parts of Texas to the Brink

By Dylan Baddour — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 10:10:00 +0000

Some areas are starting the year with low water reserves, and forecasters don’t expect substantial relief from the weather.

By Dylan Baddour

Two consecutive summers of brutal heat and drought have left some parts of Texas with notably low water supplies going into 2024.