** Western water shortages on the horizon
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Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Water is running low in the West, A ([link removed]) rizona Department of Water Resources ([link removed])

Without extensive water infrastructure like Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the American West would likely look very different—there would be no sprawling desert cities, no endless miles of irrigated agriculture. Rivers in the West, especially the Colorado River, shaped the way that the West developed. Nearly 40 million people ([link removed]) , including dozens of tribes, depend on the river’s water. Now, the climate crisis threatens to break that foundation ([link removed]) . "We bent nature to suit our own needs," said ([link removed]) Brad Udall, a climate and water expert at Colorado State University. "And now nature is going to bend us."

Lakes Mead and Powell on the Colorado River are the nation's two largest reservoirs, and a prolonged trend of warm and dry conditions is pushing them to record lows. A water shortage is expected to be declared ([link removed]) by the federal government for the first time later this summer. The Colorado River in its entirety experienced its driest 12-month period on record ([link removed]) from May 2020 to April 2021, and the flow into Lake Mead is now just a quarter of normal ([link removed]) . The reservoir is now barely a third full ([link removed]) . Record-low levels of soil moisture diminished this past spring's runoff,
locking in water supply shortfalls until at least next winter.

In June, the level of Lake Mead plunged below 1,075ft ([link removed]) , triggering a first-ever federally mandated cut in water allocations next year. Water managers expect this historic low to spiral even lower by the end of 2022, triggering a second round of cuts. Should second tier cuts occur, Arizona will lose nearly a fifth of the water it gets from the Colorado River. But it's not just the Colorado River that is suffering. Rivers all across the region are running low, such as the Arizona Salt River, which has a fascinating history ([link removed]) .

The low water levels are already causing fishing and recreation closures ([link removed]) . Lack of water could also cause an electrical shortage ([link removed]) in the West as hydroelectric facilities shut down; such a possibility prompted a warning from the United States Energy Association ([link removed]) that a "megadrought-induced electricity shortage could be catastrophic, affecting everything from food production to industrial manufacturing."

Scientists have made clear ([link removed]) the current conditions would be virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, pointing to a longer-term aridification ([link removed]) of the region. With climate change here to stay, the question is now, "How will the West solve its water crisis? ([link removed]) " According to experts, the answer lies in water management and conservation ([link removed]) , reining in demands on the region's water. In general, people should be working to use less water. For example, this year ([link removed]) the Nevada legislature voted to declare so-called "nonfunctional
turf" in the Las Vegas area illegal in an effort to conserve water. The situation is bad enough that people have begun to offer drastic solutions ([link removed]) , such as a bold national infrastructure project of building a water pipeline from the South to the Southwest.
Quick hits


** Outdoor recreation is key to Utah's economic goals, bringing in tech companies
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | Standard-Examiner ([link removed])


** Heat wave updates: West gets some relief from scorching temperatures
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Opinion: Public lands pay dividends, and false narratives hurt Utahns the most
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** American West stuck in cycle of ‘heat, drought and fire’, experts warn
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The Guardian ([link removed])


** Dog sniffs out bumblebees to help with conservation research in Colorado
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Summit Daily ([link removed])


** Amid a megadrought exacerbated by climate change, water shortages and mandatory cuts are looming
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National Public Radio ([link removed]) | The Guardian ([link removed]) | ABC News ([link removed]) | Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Heat waves, wildfires threaten and strain power grids, support systems
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E&E News ([link removed]) | Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) [Wildfire, power grid] | Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) [Heat, support systems]


** Interior creates task force to study its police departments
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Washington Post ([link removed])
Quote of the day
The amount of water now available across the US West is well below that of any time in modern civilization."

—Park Williams, a hydroclimatologist at Columbia University, The Guardian ([link removed])
Picture this


** @USFWSRefuges ([link removed])
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CAPTION CALL! Have a clever caption for this bobcat kitten and whatever has its rapt attention at Indiana’s Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge? To submit an entry, please go to [link removed] ([link removed]) Photo: Robert Chapman/ @USFWS ([link removed])

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