"Snow in the high country sometimes skips the liquid phase entirely, turning straight from a solid into a vapor. The phenomenon is responsible for anywhere between 10% to 90% of snow loss." https://www.hcn.org/articles/scientific-research-the-case-of-the-colorado-rivers-missing-water re: #sublimation #WaterintheWest et al.

"I was so surprised to find that it didn't shoot out of the ground. It didn't drip. It pooled, actually...It was impossible to see the exact spot that it came out of the ground." https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/04/as-the-west-reckons-with-drought-one-artist-is-looking-at-the-past-present-and-future-of-el-paso-countys-monument-creek/ via @coloradosun re: #MonumentCreek #soundscapes #WaterintheWest et al.

"It’s not yet finalized, but the intent is clear: Residents want to increase local control over projects that would take water out of the valley. And since what happens in one county impacts others, the officials want an avenue for local governments to weigh in when water export projects are proposed to their neighbors." https://coloradosun.com/2023/07/03/colorado-san-luis-valley-water-plan/ via @coloradosun re: #1041s et #WaterintheWest et al.

#ICYMI "55% (!) of colorado river water use is for livestock feed. #beef #meat" https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/22/climate/colorado-river-water.html h/t @mtyka #WaterintheWest

"Fecundity is a warning and a gift. In an era of climate extremes, all weather bodes both horror and beauty. And: It’s snowing in Tahoe. As it did when I was a child, that makes me giddy." https://slate.com/technology/2023/04/california-snow-flooding-shattering-records-drought.html re: #WaterintheWest et al.

While conditions have dramatically improved in much of the western #UnitedStates there are still pockets of severe #Drought especially in central #Oregon around John Day and the #MalheurNationalForest

#WesternDrought
#DroughtMonitor
#WaterInTheWest

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?West

"One of the first plants to show up after the water recedes is Russian thistle, or tumbleweed...I saw a few shoots of tamarisk, another non-native, in the canyons, but cottonwood saplings numbered in the hundreds. The original ecology was returning...It is, without doubt, erupting with life" https://www.hcn.org/issues/55.2/features-water-glen-canyon-revealed via @highcountrynews re: #GlenCanyon #WaterintheWest et al.

“If this loss rate continues, the lake as we know it is on track to disappear in five years…Conservation is also the most cost effective and resilient response…To create a sound foundation for our state, we need to permanently allocate the lake its fair share of water…we need to establish a binding environmental flow right for Great Salt Lake” https://pws.byu.edu/great-salt-lake h/t @todrobbins #WaterintheWest

https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-river-water-uncompahgre-california-arizona via @ProPublica #WaterintheWest

This is a pretty remarkable story. One where the two obvious solutions are taken off the table at the start: No way we could send the water down a river, nah, gotta build diversion pipelines. And no way Thornton could plan on not doubling population in the next 15 years. That's unpossible ...

https://coloradosun.com/2022/12/04/thornton-water-rights-pipeline-larimer-county/

#climateChange #waterInTheWest #Colorado