The Water Desk
@TheWaterDesk
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Independent water journalism initiative at @CUBoulder @CU_CEJ that focuses on Western water issues.
Colorado, USA
Joined October 2018
We’re thrilled to share the news that @LukeRunyon has joined The Water Desk as our new co-director! https://t.co/H82a8g7gLs
waterdesk.org
For the past 12 years, Luke has been a journalist at NPR stations, reporting and editing stories on the West’s environmental issues.
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Snow water resources and water security are threatened by climate change. Check out this article by @TheWaterDesk, which summarizes and contextualizes the present-day and future climate impacts on Western US water from our Water Chapter in #NCA5. https://t.co/Ukwln30KHd
waterdesk.org
The latest National Climate Assessment warns of a shrinking snowpack and serious downstream consequences.
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My article about Texas/Tamaulipas’ Falcon Dam, the communities its creation displaced, and its resonance with today’s era of violent border infrastructure is up at @nybooks: https://t.co/kZyi6XiBs4
nybooks.com
On the map Falcon Reservoir widens the course of the Rio Grande for sixty miles, its waters spreading into Texas and Tamaulipas. But from many
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A severe wildfire leaves a long tail of damage to a watershed and the people who depend on it. More than a year after New Mexico's largest fire -- Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon -- how are things looking? Two stories from my time in the area...
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It’s finally here! The blood, sweat and tears of our work for the past several months! Thank you to the @TheWaterDesk for the grant that allowed the travel to happen!
The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the Southwest. The valley depends on it. In Part One of @AngelaWChen's new series "Troubled Waters: Colorado River Crisis," she shows us why it's crucial to understand the past to handle the present controversy
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Great work by our grantee @NMPBS exploring what lessons the Upper Gila River holds for the future—and the rest of the Colorado River Basin. https://t.co/Z0S8rj9DEp
portal.knme.org
NM puts our rivers to work. Rarely do we remember that rivers are their own creatures.
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The collision between govt. error & climate change that produced a colossal fire disaster in the forests of NM didn’t end once the flames were extinguished. The fire was a prelude to a water supply emergency that the city of #LasVegasNM still reckons with. https://t.co/CfkkzjeDHX
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'It’s our reservoir': Tensions rise in Rio Grande basin as Mexico lags in US water deliveries.' @psskow and I traveled to the fertile fields of Delicias to report on the binational water issue. w/ support from @TheWaterDesk
https://t.co/qiG9unCChD
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Three years ago, Chihuahua farmers occupied La Boquilla dam to protest water deliveries to the U.S. @fotornelas and I reported in Chihuahua on the conflict that threatens to boil over once again. @insideclimate/@elpasotimes w/ support from @TheWaterDesk
https://t.co/P4L4tH3e1D
insideclimatenews.org
This story, reported with a grant from The Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder, is published in partnership with the El Paso Times. DELICIAS, Mexico—By late August, the usual monsoon...
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Be sure to check out Luke’s fantastic podcast, Thirst Gap. https://t.co/4JtrdQHgHa
kunc.org
Thirst Gap is a six-part podcast series about how the Southwest is adapting to water shortages as climate change causes the region to warm up and dry out. The series zooms in on people and places...
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A novel partnership and a unique state program made the pivot possible, creating revenue for the Jicarilla Apache Nation, a potential solution to the state’s water obligations, and hope for a river and fishes on the brink.
sfreporter.com
Cover Stories
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Biden's signature infrastructure bill requires BLM to lease 2 million acres of public land every year for oil and gas drilling as a condition for allowing solar/wind on public land. Lots of that land is in the threatened Colorado River watershed in Utah.
motherjones.com
I went to Mordor to find out.
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California's Salton Sea is in the midst of a worsening crisis. For @undarkmag, I wrote about how a multi-decade rift between science and policy in the region contributed to an ecological and public health disaster. Photos by @kitracahana
undark.org
California's Salton Sea offers a tableau of dead wildlife, toxic dust, and neglect. It was long in the making.
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Congratulations to this fantastic group of journalists! @JeremyJ_Miller
@megmyscofski
@ProkopDani
@Dee_Sea_
@psskow
@fotornelas
@svannotes
@KRGV_Christian
@JeremyWShockley
@jerd_smith
@waltonwater
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Thanks to the Thornburg Foundation and Santa Fe Community Foundation for supporting this program. The Water Desk maintains strict editorial independence from its funders and the University of Colorado. https://t.co/lqlMvWhR2w
waterdesk.org
The Water Desk launched in 2019 thanks to a grant from the Walton Family Foundation. We are seeking additional funding to build and sustain the initiative.
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We’re excited to award a total of $48,430 to these journalists and media outlets to support their coverage of water issues in New Mexico and the Rio Grande Basin. https://t.co/td8ZW5Z1Qz
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Critics claim the proposed copper mine would wreak havoc on an already vulnerable ecosystem — one of the only areas in the US where jaguars roam — especially damaging the arroyos and streams. My latest for @AZLuminaria, with funding support from @TheWaterDesk.
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Are we going to be using the same water again and again and again? In San Francisco it's already required. My latest... Beyond the Yuck Factor: Cities Turn to ‘Extreme’ Water Recycling https://t.co/Ez57zYGNZs via @YaleE360
e360.yale.edu
San Francisco is at the forefront of a movement to recycle wastewater from commercial buildings, homes, and neighborhoods and use it for toilets and landscaping. This decentralized approach, propon...
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Important reporting about drought and water quality in Colorado’s San Luis Valley from our grantee @mmbaily
https://t.co/hzCCKZVSlI
npr.org
As the West endures a megadrought, rising levels of arsenic — a known carcinogen — in the water supply of Colorado's San Luis Valley offer clues to what the future may hold.
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Come for my story about Estonia's (failed) plans to mine oil shale in Utah, but stay for the amazing photos from @RusselADaniels who roadtripped with me last year to report on the state's oil and gas industry and its threat to the Colorado River.
motherjones.com
The state's fixation on oil and gas development threatens the Colorado River watershed.
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