May 2009 Blog Posts (7)

A water use standard

Dear water groupies,

New Mexico's state engineer finally has a standard for measuring daily per capita water use. It might seem strange such a standard doesn't exist already, but indeed there are problems with establishing just how to measure water use when industry, multi-family homes and more are lumped together.

Calculating GPCD using the new method "will be required as part of application when requesting to hold water unused (40 Year Plans), in water conservation… Continue

Added by Staci Matlock on May 27, 2009 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Malthus meets water

Buenos dias, water junkies,

State District Court Judge Jerald A. Valentine has called for a joint session June 2 of all other judges and special masters dealing with stream system adjudications in New Mexico. Near as I can tell from checking in with water sources, this is a highly unusual event, first of its kind, and shows again that Valentine is determined to be a very active water judge rather than waiting for the State Engineer to call the shots.

According to the… Continue

Added by Staci Matlock on May 20, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Cyber-park vigilantes

Welcome to the brave new world of Web cams in national parks - cyber parks as they've been dubbed.

It will make scofflaws think twice before doing things like pissing in Old Faithful. PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) sent out a report today about the Yellowstone Web cam capturing 20 minutes worth of vandals messing with Old Faithful. Outraged watchers called the park to report them.

For… Continue

Added by Staci Matlock on May 15, 2009 at 9:20am — No Comments

Private vs. Public

Howdy, water geeks,

This just in from the conservative "free market" groups National Center for Policy Analysis and Rio Grande Foundation. Private companies are more efficient than governments in running water systems.

This is an old argument that has been debated for decades.

Proponents say private companies can operate water systems (and anything else for that matter) more… Continue

Added by Staci Matlock on May 14, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Chance of Rain

Buenos lunes, amigos del agua,

Emily Green - remember that name - I suspect you'll be seeing a lot more great water stories from her in the future. Green wrote the excellent series about the history of water problems in LV, Nev. last year that published in the Las Vegas Sun. A freelancer for the Los Angeles Times, Green has started a water blog

Click here to see a… Continue

Added by Staci Matlock on May 11, 2009 at 3:00pm — 1 Comment

Tree rings and water policy

Hi water groupies,

A gorgeous May spring day in Santa Fe. Fires are burning in southern Calif and southern NM but thus far up north we've safely passed Cinco de Mayo that has marked several big fire starts in the past.

I've wondered how water managers were taking into account the latest tree ring data (by which historical droughts can be tracked) with the predicted warming spell from climate change in the Southwest. Until recently, like the last three years, apparently… Continue

Added by Staci Matlock on May 8, 2009 at 9:56am — No Comments

Happy river

A little while ago I had the distinct pleasure of watching Mayor David Coss, sans socks and shoes, having fun in the newly flowing Santa Fe River with Nichoe Lichen. Kudos to the city council for approving a resolution Wednesday that commits a few hundred acre feet of water to the river out of city reservoirs over the next several weeks. It has taken 15 years and a whole lot of effort to bring back a steady trickle down the river - at least for awhile.…

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Added by Staci Matlock on May 1, 2009 at 6:49pm — 1 Comment