Tag: drought
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PARCHED: Climate change and growth are pushing Colorado toward a water crisis
Photo: Russian thistle in a former reservoir along the Colorado River in Hite, October 2018. (Photo by John Herrick) Gov. John Hickenlooper’s water plan has been big on collaboration, but short on action. He’ll leave the toughest decisions to his successor. Colorado had plenty of reasons to worry about water by the time it elected…
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We’re in a global water crisis. It’s time to turn to nature
Photo of Milanovac Lake in Croatia’s Plitvice National Park. (© Maurizio Biancarelli/ Wild Wonders of Europe) Earth has a water problem. Water crises in Cape Town and Southern California have shined a light on the plight of the planet’s fresh water in the face of climate change — and the critical role that nature plays…
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Plan for Colorado River draws on Blue Mesa, Flaming Gorge reservoirs
Historic proposal to create a conservation bank of water in Lake Powell fed by reservoirs in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico would protect the withering Powell and requires approval of eight states and the federal government Nearly two decades into a pervasive drought that has more to do with a warming climate than precipitation,…
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Diverse forests are stronger against drought
Photo: Aspens affected by drought. Credit: William Anderegg Resilient forests host trees with a diversity of water-use strategies Diversity is strength, even among forests. In a paper published in Nature, researchers led by University of Utah biologist William Anderegg report that forests with trees that employ a high diversity of traits related to water use…
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As New Mexico Reservoirs Hit Bottom, Worries Grow Over the Future
The state’s reservoirs have done their job to help water users survive record drought in 2018. Now they are almost totally dry, and tensions are building over the year ahead. ‘Climate change is really happening,’ one water official says. Elephant Butte Reservoir, the largest in New Mexico, photographed on Sept. 10, 2018, when it was…
