This is just one post in the Southwest Water Issues Category

Slow water news day ….

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 31, 2007 at 11:00 am

It sure is quiet on the water news today. My news readers found nothing of interest overnight, and DWR’s top story today is about levees in Marysville. So here are some tidbits that have been sitting on my desktop:

Imperial Irrigation District: Charles Hoskens, fired two weeks ago from the IID, outlines the challenges facing IID in this article from the Imperial Valley Press Online. Says Hoskens:

… he wants to see IID thrive into the future but there are challenges. For one, Hosken said the district needs to continue efforts to implement the 75-year quantification settlement agreement, a pact meant to end water wars over the use of the Colorado River. But, he said it will not be easy. “We have to conserve over 400,000 acre-feet a year of water,” he said. “It will be a challenge based on budget constraints.”

He also said the district has to work on improving its flow of information. He said managers and the board need to make decisions on what he called “actionable information” from IID’s computer system. But, Hosken said, what the district computer systems are providing is data that is difficult to utilize for reaching informed decisions. Also, Hosken said the district needs to do better planning as to the future of its energy service.

To read the full text of the article from the Imperial Valley Press Online, click here.

Paul Strickland makes the case for desert landscaping instead of synthetic grass in this tongue-in-cheek commentary written for The Californian and posted on the North County Times website - click here to read.

Las Vegas has been very aggressive about getting residents to give up their thirsty lawns, even paying them $2 a square foot to do so. Recently, an overhead survey was conducted to determine which neighborhoods had the most grass. While many neighborhoods that have a lot of grass are older areas, there were a few newer areas which had a substantial amount:

Bob Fulkerson, state director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, considers that reckless, especially in light of the water authority’s $2 billion plan to pipe groundwater to Las Vegas from across Eastern Nevada. “I think it’s unconscionable that people are using potable water on grass at the same time they’re considering taking scarce water from ranchers, farmers and wildlife whose lives depend on it,” Fulkerson said. “Before Las Vegas decides to sacrifice rural Nevada for some growth, Las Vegas needs to get rid of its lawns. This isn’t Massachusetts.”

To read the full text of this story from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, click here.

Old water issues revisited: Here’s an interesting trip back in history from jfleck at Inkstain:

I recently scored a fascinating volume at the used bookstore: “The Value of Water in Alternative Uses, With Special Application to Water Use in the San Juan and Rio Grande Basins of New Mexico.” Published in 1962, it’s the result of a study of the economics of various ways of allocating New Mexico’s water.Given that I’ve been writing about this of late, I was intrigued see what people were saying about it 45 years ago. The answer? Pretty much exactly what we’re saying today.

Click here to read the rest of jfleck’s Inkstain blog. This reminded me of issues here in California - especially the Delta smelt. I purchased a transcript of a 1992 interview with six of the state’s leading water development officials, and I was surprised that even then - fifteen years ago - they mentioned the possibility of having to turn off the pumps to preserve the Delta smelt.

And on that note, Aqua Blog Maven is going to take a little time off the the blog, but I will be sure to post anything interesting that comes up later on today … Enjoy!

July 31, 2007 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack, Imperial Irrigation District & Imperial Valley, Southwest Water Issues