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Future Peak Flow Along Rio Grande to Arrive Early Due to Climate Change
The Rio Grande flows nearly 2,000 miles from its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the primary source of water for more than 13 million agricultural, municipal and industrial water users in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and northern Chihuahua, Mexico. A new study finds that peak runoff on the Rio Grande could arrive earlier in the season, negatively impacting a watershed where demand already exceeds supply.
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New National Water Alliance Aims to Predict Water-Related Hazards, Manage U.S. Water Resources
The new Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH) is composed of 28 academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and government and industry partners across the United States and Canada, aiming to better predict water-related hazards and manage the nation’s water resources.
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The Financial Risks of Water Resilience Planning in California
California’s Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative is a multi-billion dollar effort that encourages different water utilities and irrigation districts to work together to build shared infrastructure to reduce the effects of droughts, but a number of questions remain regarding how best to structure these agreements.
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Uranium Detectable in Two-Thirds of U.S. Community Water System Monitoring Records
A study on metal concentrations in U.S. community water systems (CWS) found that metal concentrations were particularly elevated in CWSs serving semi-urban, Hispanic communities independent of location or region.
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Shared Water Resources: Source of Both Peace and Conflict
From the Euphrates to the Mekong, dams that ensure one country’s water supply risk leaving others parched. But shared water resources can be a source of peace as well as conflict.
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Groundwater Levels Fall Across Western and Central Kansas
Average groundwater levels across western and central Kansas fell by more than a foot in 2021, with the greatest declines in the southwest portion of the state. “The entire state is currently in some stage of drought and even with recent snowfalls, I bet it remains that way,” one expert said.
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Lake Evaporation Patterns Will Shift with Climate Change
Lakes serve as a major global source of freshwater. As temperatures continue to get warmer, so will lakes. As global average temperatures rise, lake evaporation is projected to increase at double the rate of ocean evaporation. However, future increases in lake evaporation vary substantially across regions.
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Water Resources Depletion Near Large Urban Areas
Researchers analyzed the spatial distribution of water resources depletion in connection with proximity to large urban areas and defined a model that might prove fundamental to mitigate the impact of urbanization on the ecosystem.
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Safe Drinking Water Remains Out of Reach for Many Californians
An estimated 370,000 Californians rely on drinking water that may contain high levels of the chemicals arsenic, nitrate or hexavalent chromium. Researchers say that Californians impacted by unsafe drinking water from other compounds for which data are not as widely available.
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Radioactive Contamination Is Creeping into Drinking Water Around the U.S.
As mining, fracking and other activities increase the levels of harmful isotopes in water supplies, health advocates call for tighter controls.
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California’s Water Supplies Are in Trouble as Climate Change Worsens Natural Dry Spells, Especially in the Sierra Nevada
California is preparing for a third straight year of drought, and officials are tightening limits on water use to levels never seen so early in the water year. Especially worrying is the outlook for the Sierra Nevada, the long mountain chain that runs through the eastern part of the state. California’s cities and its farms – which grow over a third of the nation’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruit and nuts – rely on runoff from the mountains’ snowpack for water.
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Groundwater in California’s Central Valley May Be Unable to Recover from Past and Future Droughts
Groundwater in California’s Central Valley is at risk of being depleted by pumping too much water during and after droughts. Water resources could be pushed beyond recovery in a region that provides about a quarter of the U.S. food supply.
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Using AI to Provide the World with Drinking Water
Though water covers 71 percent of earth’s surface, more than 2.5 billion people in the world lack access to fresh water at least once a month. Researchers are seeking new possibilities in water purification through using AI agents in the desalination process.
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Groundwater Flow to Colorado River May Decline by a Third over Next 30 Years
A new study projects that a hot and dry future climate may lead to a 29 percent decline in Upper Colorado River Basin “baseflow” at the basin outlet by the 2050s, affecting both people and ecosystems. Baseflow is the movement of groundwater into streams and, on average, accounts for more than 50 percent of annual streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
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Managing Water Resources in a Low-to-No-Snow Future
With mountain snowpacks shrinking in the western U.S., a new Lab study analyzes when a low-to-no-snow future might arrive and implications for water management.
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The long view
Despite Recent Water Supply Improvement, More Cuts Expected for Colorado River, Feds Say
After Lake Mead hit an all-time low two years ago, the Colorado River’s water supply is in a much better position this summer, but it hasn’t improved enough to prevent further cuts this year.