Month: August 2014

Bart Miller, a water program director for Western Resource Advocates, and Matt Rice, director of the Colorado River Basin Program for American Rivers, recently wrote this “Our Turn” column for the Arizona Republic. Only bold action will save the Colorado River:

The majestic Colorado River cuts a 1,450-mile path through the American West before drying up well short of the sea — its natural finish line at the Gulf of California.

Reservoirs once filled to the brim from the Colorado and its tributaries are at historic lows due to an unprecedented drought and growing human demands. Shrunken stream flows now pose serious challenges for wildlife and recreation, as well as cities, farms and others who rely upon the river.

Reports come out every week, pointing to the critical condition of the Colorado River — Lake Mead, the work-horse reservoir for the region, is at a historic low; groundwater supplies for the river’s basin are dramatically shrinking; and Lake Powell water levels are low enough that there is concern the generators that supply enough electricity to power 350,000 homes might be shut down.

Steps currently being taken to improve the situation are not up to the task of bringing the river system back into balance and providing a reliable water supply.

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We have had some massive thunderstorms in the Tucson area recently. I have had more rain in my part of town in the past week than in the entire past year, I would venture to guess. So it would be easy for people to forget that, despite our recent rains, we are still in a prolonged severe drought and a water crisis in the West.

The Washington Post reported Fears grow as California water crisis intensifies:

[A]cross California’s vital agricultural belt, nervousness over the state’s epic drought has given way to alarm. Streams and lakes have long since shriveled up in many parts of the state, and now the aquifers — always a backup source during the region’s periodic droughts — are being pumped away at rates that scientists say are both historic and unsustainable.

One state-owned well near Sacramento registered an astonishing 100-foot drop in three months as the water table, strained by new demand from farmers, homeowners and municipalities, sank to a record low. Other wells have simply dried up, in such numbers that local drilling companies are reporting backlogs of six to eight months to dig a new one.

In still other areas, aquifers are emptying so quickly that the land itself is subsiding, like cereal in a bowl after the milk has drained out.

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Earlier this year I told you about billionaire vulture capitalist Paul Singer. Vulture capitalist Paul Singer, Martha McSally and same-sex marriage, oh my!:

Paul Singer is a complex guy. He also supports pro-gay marriage Republicans, funds pro-immigration reform groups, and recently started his own club of donors, a la the Koch brothers, to join him in his efforts. (That sound you heard is Cathi Herrod’s head exploding).

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Singer’s latest project is “Winning Women,” a fundraising committee devoted to electing more Republican women to Congress. Andy Kroll at Mother Jones investigates Singer’s latest project. The GOP’s “Fundraising Terrorist” Has a New Cause:

Winning Women was formed in February, records show. In the first quarter of 2014, the committee funneled more than $320,000 to three candidates: Barbara Comstock, a former GOP consultant and opposition researcher vying to replace retiring Rep. Frank Wolf in Virginia’s 10th congressional district; Elise Stefanik, a former Bush administration aide running to represent New York’s 21st; and Martha McSally, a retired Air Force colonel in Arizona’s second district trying for the second time to unseat Democrat Rep. Ron Barber.

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