A list of news and blog posts and other web items we stumbled upon in the past week…
- When in (Mega?) Drought (High Country News) – High Country News U classroom is hosting a live radio discussion on April 8 at 6pm MDT. The discussion will focus on “are we in a megadrought, and if so how do we secure a well-watered future for the American West?”
- Capitol Weekly Water 2015: Senator Lois Wolk: ‘Drought is the new normal: We need to prepare for it and our policies have to reflect that.’ (Maven’s Notebook) – Capitol Weekly’s 2015 conference on water was held in Sacramento, CA on February 24th. Senator Lois Wolk called for wise spending of Proposition 1 funding, and collecting more data on how to manage a drought that is the new normal.
- Dust storms cloud Iran’s future (Asia Times) – Iran’s water and land-management practices have begun degrading environmental conditions, which in turn has worsened the dust storms that sweep across majority of Iran.
- The Observer view on water as a global political issue (Guardian) – An argument outlining the political nature of many issues concerning water.
- California Drought Tests History of Endless Growth (New York Times) – With new and unprecedented water cuts issued by Gov. Jerry Brown, many aspects of water use in California need to be evaluated- lush golf courses, private swimming pools, and agriculture.
- Water Pricing, Not Engineering Will Ease Looming Water Shortages (New York Times) – An opinion piece arguing that water prices are too low to give users any incentive to cutback on their use, the government needs to stop treating drought as temporary, and America needs political leadership responsible for water resources.
Contributed by Shafik Islam, Margaret Garcia, and Mahdi Zarghami
