** A dire future for the Colorado River
------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, September 24, 2021
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, National Park Service ([link removed])
New projections from the Bureau of Reclamation paint a bleak picture for the Colorado River and states that depend on its water. The latest models show a 1 in 3 chance ([link removed]) that Lake Powell will not have enough water to generate electricity at Glen Canyon Dam in 2023. They also show a 3% chance that Glen Canyon could stop producing power as early as next July.
Down the road, projections show a 2 in 3 chance that water levels at Lake Mead will drop below 1,025 feet in 2025—a critical threshold that would trigger deep water cuts across Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico.
“The latest outlook for Lake Powell is troubling,” said Wayne Pullan ([link removed]) , the upper Colorado basin director at the Bureau of Reclamation. “This highlights the importance of continuing to work collaboratively with the basin states, tribes and other partners toward solutions.”
** Haaland hints at limits on fossil fuel extraction
------------------------------------------------------------
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland suggested on Thursday that she will exercise her authority to limit oil and gas development ([link removed]) on public land.
"I have discretion," Haaland said ([link removed]) in a discussion with reporters, while not providing details on when Interior would release its long-delayed report on the oil and gas leasing program. “My discretion is really going to include everything with respect to how communities should be able to live free from pollution, radiation, and all those things that could actually kill their children, give them asthma.”
Despite the secretary's comments, Interior is still planning to auction drilling rights to more than 1 billion barrels of oil ([link removed]) in the Gulf of Mexico in October or November.
Quick hits
** Interior says court orders prevent delaying oil and gas lease sales
------------------------------------------------------------
E&E News ([link removed])
** Utah political leaders believe Bears Ears decision is ‘imminent’
------------------------------------------------------------
Fox 13 ([link removed])
** Bureau of Land Management has 40+ pending renewable energy projects
------------------------------------------------------------
E&E News ([link removed])
** Colorado fines oil company $2 million for pattern of violations
------------------------------------------------------------
Denver Post ([link removed])
** ‘Blatant harassment:’ BLM fines attorney who is suing BLM over lithium mine
------------------------------------------------------------
This is Reno ([link removed])
** California oil regulator provides detailed climate explanation for denying fracking permits
------------------------------------------------------------
Bakersfield Californian ([link removed])
** Opinion: It's time to listen to Indigenous people who are risking their lives for all of us
------------------------------------------------------------
Source NM ([link removed])
** Footprints in New Mexico suggest humans arrived in the Americas 23,000 years ago
------------------------------------------------------------
New York Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
The Bureau of Land Management is ignoring our permit requests and fining us for maintaining sanitation and protection (sic) religious freedom. The same office fast-tracked the permit for Lithium Nevada to destroy thousands of acres of wildlife habitat and sacred native sites. It’s completely absurd for them to claim they are ‘protecting public lands’ with this action.”
—Protect Thacker Pass protest leader Max Wilbert,
This is Reno ([link removed])
Picture this
** @KatmaiNPS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
From the weight of a soup can to the weight of a 10 year old child, spring cubs certainly pack on the pounds. 909’s cub and 132’s cub are the first to face off in this heavyweight head-to-head match. Vote today at [link removed] ([link removed]) . #FatBearWeek ([link removed]) #FatBearJunior ([link removed])
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2021 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.
Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
