tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77891325881307801702024-03-14T00:49:48.038-07:00Cactus HeatDesert back-country issues and water resource questions in Arizona.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-31104401324311238462014-11-11T12:02:00.000-07:002014-11-11T12:14:12.967-07:00Comedy is a Dangerous Business
It has been said that the damage done in the name of religion is vast. The Koran and Muslims, the Bible and Christians, have precipitated much of this in our modern society......all morphing into distorted political positions. This intellectual movement over time has given birth to the concept of court jester. Alexander Pope, Jonathon Swift, T.S. Elliot, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-22587974378405481092014-07-24T17:52:00.000-07:002014-07-24T17:52:05.180-07:00NASA Finds Water Loss Greater than Anticipated
NOTE: This post is taken verbatim from a recent NASA publication.
A new study by NASA and University of California, Irvine, scientists finds more than 75 percent of the water loss in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin since late 2004 came from underground resources. The extent of groundwater loss may pose a greater threat to the water supply of the western United States thanAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-27340122785191027722013-10-28T18:32:00.000-07:002013-10-29T07:35:59.631-07:00New Mine Waste Coming to Jerome, Arizona
The history of mining in
Jerome Arizona has a checkered past.
Millions of dollars were earned by the mining companies and some of the
towns (at least in Arizona) received a public building or two. But the destruction of people and the
environment carried a horrible toll.
An open pit with a head frame half hidden behind shrubbery. Head frames were used to lower andAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-52940299443010482112013-10-25T16:46:00.000-07:002013-10-25T16:46:33.336-07:00Price Will Provide Solution to Water Resources
I
remember the surprise one day when I found that the local Safeway in Cottonwood
was selling gallon jugs of water for less than it was being sold in Cleveland, OH (bottled,
of course, in New York).
About
that time I read Charles Bowden's Killing the Hidden Waters and
realized I wasn't crazy...at least there was one other person thinking as I
was.
Water
is a diminishing resource Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-4367934416467202582013-06-27T13:08:00.000-07:002013-06-27T13:19:27.679-07:00Skies Remain Dangerously Blue
Jerome is a small town . . . its population somewhere under 500 . . . and it's forms of communication with its residents borders on colloquial. A sign in the post office asked residents to please conserve water because the overflow from storage tanks was running only intermittently. When I drove past yesterday the overflow was dry.
Jerome is an old copper mining community Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0Jerome, Arizona, 8633134.7461262752594 -112.1161651611328134.693939275259396 -112.19684616113281 34.7983132752594 -112.03548416113281tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-5076369735373775352013-03-24T18:19:00.002-07:002013-03-26T13:35:37.432-07:00The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of Water Wars
There ain't much water in the desert, by definition. What little there is, its use is plagued with confusion and mistrust. Let's take a look at some of these . . .
1. The Good: Everyone in Arizona currently has sufficient water to care for yards, cars, and swimming pools. They may not in the future but, what the hell, the future is uncertain.
2. The Bad: A Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com2Cottonwood-Verde Village, AZ, USA34.73371279665681 -111.9997787475585934.707615296656812 -112.04011924755859 34.759810296656809 -111.95943824755859tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-23077522146687837082013-01-05T10:58:00.004-07:002013-03-24T11:27:11.507-07:00Arizona Mine Threatens North America’s Only Jaguar
from Wildlife Promise
0 1/3/2013 // Nic Callero// Clean Water Act, endangered species, endangered species act,Endangered Species Coalition, Global Warming, jaguars, mining, Pacific Northwest, Pebble Mine, pollution, rosemont mine, water pollution,Wildlife, Wildlife Watch
There is only one Jaguar in the entire United States, which explains why Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-36166775012407020862012-12-23T16:16:00.001-07:002012-12-28T09:34:21.033-07:00An Ignorant Attitude
The use of water for many in the Southwest elicits a head in the sand, nearly schizophrenic, reaction from some people. In the face of naturally occurring water scarcity aggravated by global warming [see Krugman comment, below] there is sentiment that all sectors of the environment are the same.
. The facts, however, bring us back to reality.
The Verde River has Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-28248869086319033862012-11-24T19:34:00.000-07:002012-11-24T21:30:39.261-07:00When Major Rivers Run Low
from the LaCrossTribune.com
The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday began reducing the flow from a Missouri River reservoir, a move expected to worsen low-water conditions on the Mississippi River and potentially bring barge traffic to a halt within weeks.
The Missouri flows into the Mississippi around a bend just north of St. Louis. One result of this year's drought, the worst in Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-65558627621763243142012-11-16T18:32:00.000-07:002012-11-16T18:32:20.794-07:00Florence Loses Her Water -- Part 2
Fracking
Florence for Copper
Curis Resources is using a controversial "hydraulic fracturing" process, otherwise known as fracking, to obtain copper in an electro-deposition mining operation in a largely residential area of Florence, Arizona. (see previous post) The fracking process jeopardizes the potability of Florence's water supply. Although Curis claims that the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-29412759439958978232012-10-28T17:04:00.000-07:002012-11-05T19:01:20.279-07:00Florence Loses Her Water
Curis Resources is in the process of exploiting a major copper discovery within a residential area of Florence, Arizona. The mining company plans to do this with a controversial "in-situ" process that may destroy potability of the aquifer that supplies water to this major community of Arizona.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality granted Curis a permit to inject "billions of Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-42531625502461455672012-08-22T19:31:00.001-07:002012-08-25T15:56:27.170-07:00Where Water Meets Sun
This photo of a remarkable project in India was recently sent to me by Richard M. Hileman, a Facebook friend who obtained it from Occupy Wall St. It came with his comment, "This would be good for Arizona."
This solar panel laid on the vast stretches of agricultural channels
in Gujarat India generates 1 Megawatt of electricity per km and
prevents evaporation of 1 crore (Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-3632892760032953132012-06-25T10:14:00.001-07:002012-08-04T18:00:48.041-07:00Has the Aquifer Run Dry?In a recent news note in the VerdeNews.com, Tom Whitmer of Cottonwood, Arizona, had been nominated for a position on the Technical Advisory Committee with the Yavapai County Water Advisory Committee.
Photos taken from verdenews.com
His nomination was questioned by Doug Von Gaussig because Mr. Whitmer serves on the board of that organization and the conflict of interest was all Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-31736638679264523022012-03-17T19:11:00.001-07:002012-04-01T08:44:53.715-07:00Which Will Win. . . Water or Uranium
You just know it will be uranium because it's worth more...
"Washington’s decision to bar new uranium mining near the Grand Canyon and other federal policies on energy and resource issues," says the Casa Grande Dispatch, "are barriers holding back Arizona and its residents from prosperity," Gov. Jan Brewer told a congressional hearing Friday."Further", the Republican governor said, "the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-47103095201577236742012-03-11T11:22:00.000-07:002012-03-11T14:44:45.948-07:00A Canary in the Mine
Not a drop of water that can be imagined. Not even a trickle of a seasonal or intermittent stream that might provide water. Y'know, the kind on topo maps that are designated with dashed blue lines.
Water in Arizona is scarce, often a matter of life or death.
However, we read this....
"Ohio will soon be in the business of selling water to industry Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-84214556231303290892012-02-27T17:19:00.000-07:002012-02-27T17:19:34.707-07:00Price Could Provide Solution to Water Scarcity
While a newbie resident to the Southwest, I've backpacked out here for 30 years primarily in the Superstition Wilderness where I would plan daily segments on a topo map from one spring to another.
I remember the surprise one day when I found that the local Safeway in Cottonwood was selling gallon jugs of water for less than it was being sold in Cleveland, OH (bottled, of course, in NewAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-26501681190792507212012-02-27T16:11:00.000-07:002012-02-27T17:14:15.306-07:00The Hard FactsAhh...the hard facts. They bring us home to reality.
The hard facts are that conditions of living in the desert are different than the conditions of living in the Midwest. Concessions must be made for an unusual environment, an environment that has little water, water resources that are being over-used.
As a point of reference, the Ogalalla Aquifer in the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-4397611402432591622012-02-26T13:37:00.002-07:002012-08-25T10:39:13.633-07:00A Costly Solution
My original premise, posted a while ago, was that increases in Arizona population were aggravating the level of water use.
A response from Dr.Gary Beverly was "How do you control population? You can't deport people"
The standard response from developers is to demonstrate "100 years assured water supply."
My response to Dr. Beverly was to price (or tax) water to such a level thatAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-3561029481670329272012-02-18T14:48:00.001-07:002012-02-18T14:48:49.667-07:00Population Key to Water UseIt strikes me that we can drown in local legislation while the broader solution is directly in front of us: POPULATION.
We like to think we can beat the numbers. At least commonly accepted ones.
The density or concentration of desert flora is a fraction of what it is inthe Midwest.
The density or concentration of desert fauna is, also, a fraction of what itis in the Midwest.For Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-78548430437740434622012-01-26T11:44:00.002-07:002012-02-27T17:16:47.924-07:00Water Must Deal with 25 MM Population Increase
The UA’s Water Resources Research Center held its recent conference to discuss the present and future state of Arizona’s water issues.
Not much new was reported but some obvious views were well taken. Here is a summary from the DAILYWILDCAT.com.
The conference played with ideas to more effectively use water coming into Arizona. Main issues involved choices people make with the water Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-58649472281139423772011-12-23T17:31:00.000-07:002012-02-27T17:00:38.370-07:00Which Way Goes DesireWhen we talk about the availability of water resources, we assume 0.5+ acre foot per person.
As people f.... and population increases, the question for Arizona is whether our sexual desire will overcome our thirst.
That's an interesting question.
The disturbing complexity is that thirst will kill us and sex, or the lack of it, will make life unpleasant.
There's a finite Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-50313356615147019592011-11-01T17:21:00.002-07:002011-11-01T21:03:20.731-07:00Water and Money Are the Same
“We’re paying them $54,000 for nothing,” he said.
Diedrich said
Griffin and Brown were right in the first place to suspect the City would have
to pay the fee regardless of whether it wanted to or not.
Another problem
Diedrich and Marchione had with the fee was that it was solely imposed on
municipalities, meaning that unincorporated areas weren’t paying one cent for
water, which is every Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-28016999428271789402011-10-23T11:39:00.001-07:002011-10-28T17:31:37.932-07:00Environment and Jobs
In a recent column titled,
“Party of Pollution”, Paul Krugman
writing in the October 20, 2011, NY Times remarks that current thought among
some Republicans wants environmental laws defanged for the ostensible purpose
of creating jobs.
Krugman, concludes that suspending or eliminating environmental laws will
simply make us sicker and poorer.
In a coincidental presentation to the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0569 Main St, Jerome, AZ 86331, USA34.7489107 -112.113771634.7358637 -112.1335126 34.7619577 -112.09403060000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-81622441056545245532011-09-19T11:37:00.000-07:002011-09-19T14:35:51.459-07:00Water Use Threatens Colorado River & Arizona
On a particularly frightening note, a Climate Central article written July 13, 2011, by Tom Yulsman (climatecentral.org), pointed out that for the first time withdrawals from the Colorado River outpaced supply and future water consumption is likely to continue this desperate trend.
The Colorado River supplies water to almost 35 million people in 7 states including Arizona.&Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7789132588130780170.post-27979906319868816062011-08-30T18:24:00.007-07:002011-09-15T08:27:31.345-07:00Selling the Verde River, Part 2It seems that any thoughts expressed about the Arizona ditch system that draws water from the Verde River generates a variety of knee-jerk reactions that are inaccurate or irrelevant.
The point made in the previous post was that the design of the diversion dam on the Verde River may be pushing more water through the Cottonwood Ditch than it is entitled to take.
I did not (1.) condemn the ditch Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14605160226853258083noreply@blogger.com0