Entries by Brett Walton

Partnership Agreement Saves Canada’s Renowned Lake Laboratory

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A legendary freshwater research facility in western Ontario has a new operator. Image courtesy of Fisheries and Oceans Canada The Experimental Lakes Area, the only natural freshwater research lab of its size in the world, comprises 58 lakes in western Ontario. Lake 224, in the foreground, serves as a control lake to test baseline water […]

Federal Water Tap, April 7: Population Growth and Climate Change Will Radically Alter California’s Largest Watershed

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A major Bureau of Reclamation study depicts widespread changes in the coming decades for water supply and demand in California’s Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, as well as for water quality in the delta ecosystem where the two rivers intersect. The study, to be released publically later this month, uses climate models and population trends […]

Australian State Considers Selling Its Biggest Water Assets, Built During Drought Panic

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Queensland’s rush to build desalination and recycled water facilities is a cautionary tale. Queensland spent big during the decade of drought that choked Australia at the turn of the 21st century. The northeastern state built a $AUS 2.6 billion facility to purify and reuse sewer water and a $AUS 1.2 billion plant to remove the […]

As Snow Survey Reveals Drought Deficit, Californians Take Extraordinary Measures to Cope

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Sierra Nevada snowpack, a major part of California’s water supply equation, is near record lows.

California Mountain Snowpack Likely to Receive a Failing Mark Tomorrow

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Rain and snow are falling today, but the winter of 2013-14 was historically hot and dry.

Federal Water Tap, March 31: EPA Water Proposal Ruffles Feathers

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It was an unusual move for the Obama administration. Instead of waiting for a Friday afternoon to unveil a controversial new rule, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its Clean Water Act proposal on Tuesday – just days before Gina McCarthy, administrator of the EPA, was schedule to testify in Congress about the agency’s 2015 budget […]

Study: Global Warming Will Harm Agriculture Sooner Than Previously Thought

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Increased heat and water scarcity will limit food production. Farmers and food markets can adapt, but only to a point. Photo © Aubrey Ann Parker / Circle of Blue Some 40 percent of India’s 183 million hectares of farmland were planted with rice and wheat in 2010. New studies indicate that rising temperatures, even small […]

Q & A: Julene Bair, Author of The Ogallala Road

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Fancy machinery and irrigation systems that pull millions of gallons per day from the nation’s largest aquifer have transformed the High Plains. But at what cost? Circle of Blue’s Brett Walton spoke with Julene Bair, author of The Ogallala Road, a memoir of a life shaped by land and water. Farmers in the High Plains […]

Federal Water Tap, March 24: California Representatives Introduce Drought, Dam Bills

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To the pile of existing state and federal legislation that provides drought and disaster relief to California and the U.S. West, add two more bills. First, a bipartisan contribution from two Northern California congressmen. John Garamendi, a Democrat, and Doug LaMalfa, a Republican, are using the drought to justify a new reservoir in their territory. […]

UN Report: Water and Energy Face Off on an Uneven Playing Field

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To meet rising demands for both resources, greater harmony will be necessary. Photo © Aubrey Ann Parker / Circle of Blue Even though India’s coal-fired capacity grows by nearly 20,000 megawatts annually, much of the nation still suffers from widespread blackouts. The reason: consumption of electricity is rising more than 10 percent annually, while the […]

Rooted in the Land, One Kansas Rancher Manages the Ecosystem as a Whole

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Sunlight, soil, water, ruminants – it is all a big cycle at the Homestead Ranch. Photo © Brett Walton/Circle of Blue Now that’s a root! Ken Klemm, a rancher in Sherman County, Kansas, shows me the water-storage system of the bush morning glory. Only the twig at the top was above ground when the bulb […]

‘Transformational’ Water Reforms, Though Wrenching, Helped Australia Endure Historic Drought, Experts Say

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California, in the third year of its worst drought ever, faces challenges similar to those of Australia. A panel of water policy experts and Circle of Blue journalists questioned whether the nation’s most populous state has the resolve to enact similar reforms.