Trump’s War on Water Conservation
Images: (left) American Standard low-flow toilet; (center) EPA’s consumer label for water efficient fixtures; (right) a waterless urinal recently disconnected from water... Read More
Betting the farm while irrigation supplies dwindle
One of the editors of a new international agricultural journal recently invited me to write a guest essay about the impacts of... Read More
Living Within Nature’s Water Limits
The map above indicates regions of the world that are reaching the limits of their renewable water supply. Yellow areas indicate places... Read More
A Global River Guardian Has Passed
Jackie King sharing her river knowledge in Costa Rica. Photo by Melissa Sevigny The writer Barry Lopez once pondered whether the gravels... Read More
Saving the Great Salt Lake by Rebalancing Its Water Budget
Exposed shoreline of the Great Salt Lake in Utah (USA). The lake’s level has dropped 14 feet (4.2 meters) over the past... Read More
Why Do We Grow So Much Alfalfa?
Bales of alfalfa in the Imperial Irrigation District of southern Calfornia, grown with Colorado River water. Photo by Brian Richter During recent... Read More
Solving Water Crises Begins With Good Data
Photo of Lake Mead by Brian Richter Note: This blog post was originally published in Research Communities by Springer Nature. Media coverage... Read More
Reviving the Rio
The Rio Grande near the Colorado-New Mexico state line. Photo by Brian Richter “There are few river systems in the world that... Read More
Transforming our farmlands for a drier climate
Irrigated fields in the Imperial Irrigation District, California. Photo by Brian Richter This blog was originally posted on Nature’s Sustainability Community website... Read More
From Research Into Policy
Lake Mead on the Colorado River. As of today, the lake is 70% empty due to overuse of available water supplies; more... Read More
Big Cities Are Downsizing Their Water Footprints
Photos above: Forty percent or more of all water use in western US cities goes to outdoor watering of lawns, gardens, pools,... Read More
Let’s Stop Blaming the Compact
Members of the Colorado River Commission, in Santa Fe in 1922, after signing the Colorado River Compact. From left, W. S. Norviel... Read More
An Abrupt Warming of the Colorado River
The downstream face of Glen Canyon Dam, which forms Lake Powell, America’s second-largest water reservoir. Water is released from the reservoir through... Read More
Avoiding Water Bankruptcy
Originally published on the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas website here. To keep a healthy bank balance, it’s important not... Read More
Addressing Water Illiteracy
Water cycle illustration courtesy of US Geological Survey The US Geological Survey just announced the availability of the new water cycle graphic... Read More
Where Our Water Goes
Cows grazing along the North Platte River in Wyoming. Photo by Brian Richter ___________________________ Many communities and ecosystems around the globe are... Read More
Sustainable Groundwater Management for Agriculture
Crop irrigation with groundwater, Carbondale, Colorado. Photo by Brian Richter I traveled to the World Water Week in Stockholm last week to... Read More
Bruce Babbitt and Brian Richter: Saving The Colorado River
(Zak Podmore | The Salt Lake Tribune) The sun rises above cracking mudflats deposited just above where the Colorado River meets Lake... Read More
How To Pay for a Water Conservation Program
Above: Aerial view of downtown Bozeman, Montana. The city recently implemented water policies to stabilize their water use under tremendous growth pressure.... Read More
This Guy Wants to Cut His City’s Water Use in Half
The offices of the Watershed Management Group in Tucson, Arizona. The native vegetation on the property is supported with rainwater capture. ___________________________... Read More
Catching Rain: A Home Builder’s Perspective
Photo above: One of Darrel McMaster’s “Sustainable Homes,” built in the Hill Country of Texas near Boerne. The house produces all of... Read More
The (Nearly) Lost Art of Catching Rain
Photo Above: The author’s 600-gallon rainwater cistern, tucked away in the boat shed. It provides all water needed outdoors at his home... Read More
Communicating Water Risks
The Colorado River has been dropping rapidly over recent months, leaving mudflats on its margins. Photo by Brian Richter ___________________________ In early... Read More
Could Climate Change Put an End to Arizona’s Alfalfa Heyday?
By Greta Moran Originally published by Civil Eats It’s always alfalfa season in Arizona. In most other parts of the country, the... Read More
Congratulations My Friend
I woke up this morning with a big smile on my face. Today, the world will recognize my hero — and one... Read More
The Irrigation Efficiency Paradox
Center pivot sprinkler irrigation, Bozeman, Montana (USA). Photo by Brian Richter _____________________ In an excellent New York Times article published on July... Read More
Braggin’ on my Bro
Please forgive me as I need to brag on my brother Brad for a moment. Today has been proclaimed as Brad Richter... Read More
Betting the Farm
Farm along the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Photo by Brian Richter. Farming has always been a betting... Read More
Day Zero on the Colorado River, revisited
Watching the water level fall in Lake Powell. Photo by Brian Richter ______________________ The US Bureau of Reclamation, in its most recently... Read More
Hey Reporters: Let’s Get This Story Straight
Lake Mead on the Colorado River is now nearly two-thirds empty. Photo by Brian Richter ______________________________________________________ Seems like every day brings another... Read More
Clarifying Intent
A number of my colleagues read my OpEd in the Denver Post yesterday and asked about the title (“Western Slope needs to... Read More
The Denver Post – Guest commentary: Water Crisis Demands Attention
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. A bleached “bathtub ring” is visible on the rocky banks of Lake Powell in Utah in this... Read More
The Water Tap: How has water use changed in the west since 2000?
By Joan Meiners This story was originally published by St. George Spectrum & Daily News, view source here. This article is part... Read More
Study: Water Use Dropping In Western Cities Even While Population Grows
This story was originally published by Arizona Public Radio, view original source here. Many western cities have been able to shrink their... Read More
The Great Uncoupling Between Water and Growth
“Vegas Lights” by Premshree Pillai, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ___________ My research group published a new paper last week in the international Water... Read More
The Shark is Upon Us
Lake Powell’s water level continues to fall behind Glen Canyon Dam due to overuse of the Colorado River. The Bureau of Reclamation... Read More
An Admission of Erratum
Following my last post that provided an update on the status of water use and reservoir levels in the Colorado River basin,... Read More
Struggling for Sustainability on the Colorado River
The 900-year old Nankoweap Granaries perched high above the Colorado River provide an inspiring setting for contemplating the future of a river... Read More
The Water Tap: New study finds climate change will dry Colorado River even more than previously thought
This story was originally published by The Spectrum, view source here. As part of this new water series, each Friday (Saturday in... Read More
More than half the water diverted from Central Valley rivers is used to irrigate cattle-feed crops, implicating beef and dairy as top drivers of recent fish declines.
This article was originally published by SF Estuary, view source here. Recent findings, published in Nature Sustainability in March, strengthen the environmental... Read More
A River-Running Season Abbreviated
Floating the Yampa River in Dinosaur National Monument. Photo by Brian Richter ____________________ Every January, my email inbox swells with messages from... Read More
The Water Tap: Our thirst for beef may be harming fish, new research finds
This story was originally published by St. George Spectrum & Daily News, view source here. As part of this new water series,... Read More
Staying productive in pandemic times
Photo: Water tanker in Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India by Akshay Davis (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) ___________________________ Near the end of our Spring... Read More
New Survey Reveals American Concerns About Water
Source: APM Research Lab | Water Main survey, conducted May 7-12, 2019. An educational organization called “The Water Main” has just released... Read More
Let’s Refill Lakes Mead & Powell Now
Bad News for Lake Powell As of Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) forecast for this year’s expected water supplies... Read More
Day Zero for the Colorado River
Image: “Parched” (Lake Mead) by Angel La Canfora, Creative Commons America’s two largest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell on the... Read More
Two birds with one soap: How to fight COVID-19 and build good water-saving habits
Guest blog by Allen Townsend, Brendan Markey-Towler & John Pickering _____________ We’ve been talking about handwashing A LOT lately. Handwashing is one... Read More
Study reveals beef, dairy production depleting water supply
This article was originally published by The Cattle Site, view source here. US – A study by Northern Arizona University has set... Read More
Make It Rare: How Beef Production Saps Scarce Western Water
This article was originally published by Wyoming Public Media, view source here. As water becomes more scarce in the Mountain West, a... Read More
Pay the Farmers Now
My colleagues and I have just published a new study in Nature Sustainability that provides a detailed overview of water use and... Read More
Beef consumption hurting river quality
New study shows water scarcity and fish imperilment are driven by beef production in the Western United States UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE Across... Read More
Fallowing cattle-feed farmland simplest way to alleviate western U.S. water shortage
This article was originally published by Science Daily, view source here. All over the world, the rate at which humans consume fresh... Read More
Fallowing Cattle-Feed Farmland Simplest Way to Alleviate Western Water Shortage, FEWSION-Based Study Finds
This article was originally published by Environmental News Network, view source here. All over the world, the rate at which humans consume... Read More
How beef eaters in cities are draining rivers in the American West
This article was originally published by National Geographic, view source here. IT’S NOT EXACTLY news that the rivers of the western U.S.... Read More
Fishing Beneath Condors (or Why do we have to pay to keep water in rivers?)
Image: Andean condor soaring over Torres del Paine, Chile. photo by Brian Richter __________________________ I’ve just returned from three glorious weeks in... Read More
A Colorado River Water Primer
Image: Lake Mead is now less than half full (courtesy of Wikipedia Commons) __________________________________ A good number of my friends and colleagues... Read More
Time to move faster on cutting Colorado River use, conservationist warns
This article was originally published by tucson.com, view source here. Arizona and the other Lower Colorado River Basin states need to cut... Read More
Mixed Blessings
Image: 2011 was a very big runoff year for the Colorado River and its tributaries including the Yampa River shown here. The... Read More
Saving a Holy River
Image: A 2,000 year old Roman bridge over the Jordan River (photo by Brian Richter) At this time of worship and celebration... Read More
Shark Water Redux
Last week I was able to attend the annual gathering of the Colorado River Water Users Association (CRWUA) in Las Vegas. It... Read More
A Shark in Fresh Water
Image: Lake Powell lost nearly half of its storage capacity during 2000-2018. Plentiful snowmelt runoff this past spring did little to regain... Read More
Stealing the Rain
Image: Storm clouds over Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Photo by Brian Richter One of the great benefits of my role as... Read More
A Giant Has Fallen
My dear friend Arjen Hoekstra – a giant in the water community — died last night while riding his bike to his... Read More
Renewing Our Energies
Image: The place where solitude lives: King Range National Conservation Area, California. Photo by Brian Richter In September I had the opportunity... Read More
Growing Water in the Desert
Image above: Lettuce farming in Yuma County, Arizona. An estimated 90 percent of US lettuce consumed in the winter comes from this... Read More
Growing Water
Image: Flood-irrigated farm fields in the Imperial Irrigation District of southern California. Studies have shown that a switch from flood (furrow) irrigation... Read More
Swimming with Mastodons
Image: Danielle Tremblay of Colorado Parks and Wildlife holding a Colorado pikeminnow captured in the Colorado River near Grand Junction. The Colorado... Read More
A Water Plan for the 22nd Century
Image: Austin skyline with the Colorado River of Texas running through it. Photo credit: City of Austin I’ve just read Austin’s new... Read More