A long stretch of hot, dry weather has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads just as Midwest farmers are preparing to harvest crops and send tons of corn and soybeans downriver to the Gulf of Mexico. The transport restrictions are a headache for barge companies, but even more worrisome for […]
Boats at the bottom of Lake Mead that were exposed by dwindling lake levels are finally underwater again, but the recovery is relatively small compared to the severity of the drought. In the summer of 2022, folks flocked to a upright boat in Lake Mead. YouTubers “Sin City Outdoors” documented the dramatic fall of lake levels as […]
El Niño is anticipated to continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter (with a greater than 95% chance through January – March 2024). An El Niño Advisory remains in effect. In August, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were above average across the equatorial Pacific Ocean [Fig. 1], with strengthening in the central and east-central Pacific. All of the latest […]
Last week, Lake Mead water levels started to even out after experiencing a steep increase for the last five months, but it isn’t expected to last for long. After years of drought, Lake Mead, which is in Nevada and Arizona, reached drastically low levels last summer, prompting fears that a dead pool—the point where water levels are too […]
A centerpiece of California’s perpetual political and legal wrangling over allocation of water is the complex array of rights that stretch back to the earliest years of statehood in the 19th century. Simply put, those who claimed water before 1914, when the state assumed legal control, have “senior rights” that traditionally have entitled them to virtually […]
We are living in the Anthropocene, an era being defined by global mass extinctions caused by humanity. While on-going and impending extinctions of birds and other terrestrial vertebrates gain the most attention, the situation with freshwater fishes (and other freshwater organisms) is as bad or worse, partly because many freshwater extinctions are nearly invisible events, […]
Low Mississippi River Limits Barges Just as Farmers Want to Move Their Crops Downriver
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /APby Scott McFetridgeA long stretch of hot, dry weather has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads just as Midwest farmers are preparing to harvest crops and send tons of corn and soybeans downriver to the Gulf of Mexico. The transport restrictions are a headache for barge companies, but even more worrisome for […]
Once-Exposed Boats in Lake Mead Covered by Water Again, but Progress is Minimal Amid Record Drought
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /Fox 5 Vegas by Jaclyn SchultzBoats at the bottom of Lake Mead that were exposed by dwindling lake levels are finally underwater again, but the recovery is relatively small compared to the severity of the drought. In the summer of 2022, folks flocked to a upright boat in Lake Mead. YouTubers “Sin City Outdoors” documented the dramatic fall of lake levels as […]
El Niño Anticipated to Continue Through the Northern Hemisphere Winter
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Water News Networkby NWS Climate Prediction CenterEl Niño is anticipated to continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter (with a greater than 95% chance through January – March 2024). An El Niño Advisory remains in effect. In August, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were above average across the equatorial Pacific Ocean [Fig. 1], with strengthening in the central and east-central Pacific. All of the latest […]
Will Lake Mead Water Levels Rise Again? What We Know About El Niño
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /Newsweek by Anna SkinnerLast week, Lake Mead water levels started to even out after experiencing a steep increase for the last five months, but it isn’t expected to last for long. After years of drought, Lake Mead, which is in Nevada and Arizona, reached drastically low levels last summer, prompting fears that a dead pool—the point where water levels are too […]
Opinion: Water Rights Reformers Scored Only a Minor Victory in the Legislature
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /Cal Mattersby Dan WaltersA centerpiece of California’s perpetual political and legal wrangling over allocation of water is the complex array of rights that stretch back to the earliest years of statehood in the 19th century. Simply put, those who claimed water before 1914, when the state assumed legal control, have “senior rights” that traditionally have entitled them to virtually […]
Future Ancestors of Freshwater Fishes in California
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /California WaterBlog by Peter B. MoyleWe are living in the Anthropocene, an era being defined by global mass extinctions caused by humanity. While on-going and impending extinctions of birds and other terrestrial vertebrates gain the most attention, the situation with freshwater fishes (and other freshwater organisms) is as bad or worse, partly because many freshwater extinctions are nearly invisible events, […]