Three Drop Thursday
watching a train wreck in slo-mo
Friends of Confluence West –
Welcome to Three Drop Thursday, a snapshot of what we’ve been paying attention to this week.
Around here, we like stay focused on the art of the possible. That’s a bit challenging to do this week. Read on.
For the West,
Kimery
Train wreck in slo-mo – back to the Colorado River
You know it's bad when the highly respected John Fleck writes a piece like this one. Most of us know him as a generally upbeat Colorado River commentator and analyst. His opening line in this week's piece: “I don't see how this ends well.”
What would you do if you were the Department of Interior?
Last week, the Department of Interior's press release noted that it would continue to "encourage" voluntary conservation in the Colorado Basin. Alex Hager's excellent piece from last Friday reports that his sources tell him that DOI will offer $300 - $400 an acre-foot for fallowing.
In this piece, I noted that demand management is what we have to get to – and so quickly. And that demand management means cutting back (with compensation) on growing alfalfa.
Brilliant video – with a big caveat
Vox's video Who's Really Using up the Water in the American West is brilliant – clear, concise – one to share far and wide. Annual western water consumption – 6% residential, 8% commercial (includes power plants). The remaining 86%? You've got this one.
As you watch the video though, there's one big caveat: the video doesn't put into content the water needed for adequate stream flows. Keeping that in mind, the video still gets a big thumbs up.
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