Touring a 14-square-mile Delta island where sweeping cornfields will provide a home for legions of sandhill cranes come winter, a team of government officials from Mexico got a pretty good idea Wednesday how private lands can be used to benefit public resources. The visit to Staten Island was part of a weeklong tour by the […]
/in California and the U.S./by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Padma Nagappan Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority
Located in Riverside and Imperial counties, about 150 miles (240km) southeast of Los Angeles in the desert, the Salton Sea is a 360-square-mile (930-square-km) lake, the largest by area in California. But that status is under threat, as the lake has been shrinking for years, exposing the dry lakebed and creating dust that has hurt […]
A few years ago, on a ranch in the small Marin town of Nicasio, a series of events led to an important environmental discovery. Scientists found that a single application of compost on rangeland helps plants suck carbon from the air and store it in the ground. Compost on less than three acres can offset […]
It can be difficult to see any bright side when it comes to the water challenges facing the western U.S. Whether it’s the severe drought going on its fifth year or the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, hitting a historically low water level, there are many valid reasons to be concerned about the region’s dwindling […]
Everyone knows about the California Gold Rush – the massive migration of fortune seekers to the hills of the former Spanish colony in the late 1840s and 1850s. During the same period, however, there was another rush to California with a more lasting effect – farmers seeking fertile land and a mild climate. Those included […]
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem was once a very different place. Before levees and dams, the rivers and streams that flowed through the Central Valley into the San Francisco Bay swelled and shrank with the seasons. Huge, shallow floodplains warmed by the sun mingled with icy mountain snowmelt to create a habitat rich with microscopic […]
Mexican Officials Visit Delta to Learn Conservation Practices
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Stockton Recordby Alex BreitlerTouring a 14-square-mile Delta island where sweeping cornfields will provide a home for legions of sandhill cranes come winter, a team of government officials from Mexico got a pretty good idea Wednesday how private lands can be used to benefit public resources. The visit to Staten Island was part of a weeklong tour by the […]
BLOG: California Is Running Out of Time to Save the Salton Sea
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Water Deeply (New York)by Padma Nagappan Mentioned: San Diego County Water AuthorityLocated in Riverside and Imperial counties, about 150 miles (240km) southeast of Los Angeles in the desert, the Salton Sea is a 360-square-mile (930-square-km) lake, the largest by area in California. But that status is under threat, as the lake has been shrinking for years, exposing the dry lakebed and creating dust that has hurt […]
Our Waste Could Help Reverse Climate Change
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /San Francisco Examinerby Robyn PurchiaA few years ago, on a ranch in the small Marin town of Nicasio, a series of events led to an important environmental discovery. Scientists found that a single application of compost on rangeland helps plants suck carbon from the air and store it in the ground. Compost on less than three acres can offset […]
The West May Not Be So Doomed on Water After All
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Huffington Postby Joseph ErbentrautIt can be difficult to see any bright side when it comes to the water challenges facing the western U.S. Whether it’s the severe drought going on its fifth year or the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, hitting a historically low water level, there are many valid reasons to be concerned about the region’s dwindling […]
OPINION: Agriculture Must Evolve With Changing Fortunes, Rules
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /Merced-Sun Starby Dan WaltersEveryone knows about the California Gold Rush – the massive migration of fortune seekers to the hills of the former Spanish colony in the late 1840s and 1850s. During the same period, however, there was another rush to California with a more lasting effect – farmers seeking fertile land and a mild climate. Those included […]
Project Aims to Feed Delta Smelt – ‘They’re Starving to Death’
/in California and the U.S. /by Mike Lee /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan SabalowThe Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem was once a very different place. Before levees and dams, the rivers and streams that flowed through the Central Valley into the San Francisco Bay swelled and shrank with the seasons. Huge, shallow floodplains warmed by the sun mingled with icy mountain snowmelt to create a habitat rich with microscopic […]