For the second straight year, huge numbers of juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon appear to have baked to death in the Sacramento River because of California’s drought-stretched water supplies, bringing the endangered species a step closer to extinction. The grim statistics released by federal officials Wednesday raise the specter of more water cuts for agriculture next … Read more
By Will Houston Recent high tides and brief mid-September rains gave some Eel River salmon a fleeting chance to move closer to their spawning grounds. But a lack of adequate flows on the river is causing many fish to fall ill as they crowd within small pools for weeks at a time, according to a … Read more
By Peter Gleick The recent severe drought in the Western United States — and California in particular — has shined a spotlight on a range of water-management practices that are outdated, unsustainable, or inappropriate for a modern 21st century water system. Unless these bad practices are fixed, no amount of rain will be enough to … Read more
Hoping to capitalize on the epic drought, the state’s water industry wants to usher in a new era of dam-building in the state. But environmentalists say it would cost billions and do more harm than good. By Will Parrish On the edge of the Yolla Bolly Wilderness, about 15 miles north of the dusty town … Read more
H.R. 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015, includes an alarming amendment that would allow hydropower operators to bypass environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act, and could limit the powers of states, tribes, and natural resource agencies.
There are more than 87,000 dams in America and, like most infrastructure, they go largely unnoticed — until something goes wrong. That was the case in and around South Carolina’s capital this week, when at least 20 dams collapsed during catastrophic floods. The number of dam breaches was rare. But to experts who monitor dam … Read more