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Water & the West

To Save Crops, Farmers Took Groundwater. Then the Land Sank

Like the topsoil, structures built 40 years ago to contain floodwaters are cracking, too.Continue readingTo Save Crops, Farmers Took Groundwater. Then the Land Sank

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Conservation & the West

Conservation Underground: Researchers Propose a Way to Block Subsurface Exploitation

A new paper suggests that “mineral easements” might provide a tool to block hydraulic fracking and the oil and gas wells that have been sources of fear and opposition from New York to California.Continue readingConservation Underground: Researchers Propose a Way to Block Subsurface Exploitation

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Health & the West

The Southwest’s Orphan Disease Thrives on Ignorance

The fungal species that causes the illness known as Valley Fever is known as cocciodiodes. Two strains have been found around the North American Southwest. Researchers have found that the fungal spores have made their home – the scientific term is “endemic” – in areas characterized by low rainfall, temperatures that are high in summer…Continue readingThe Southwest’s Orphan Disease Thrives on Ignorance

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Water & the West

What If California Had Won the 1963 Case Over the Division of the Colorado River?

This is the first of a series of occasional posts looking at at how the West would have changed if a major historical event had – or had not – occurred. Here, we look at the implications of a different Supreme Court decision in the 1963 Arizona v. California case.Continue readingWhat If California Had Won the 1963 Case Over the Division of the Colorado River?

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Conservation & the West Native Nations & the West

In the Pacific Northwest, Native Fishing Rights Take on a Role as Environmental Protector

The fishing rights promised to the Pacific Northwest’s Native Americans 160 years ago are proving the sharpest knife the region’s environmentalists possess. So far in 2016, these rights have undergirded decisions to block two planned terminals to ship coal to Asia. Another decision could cost Washington state a billion dollars in highway repairs aimed at protecting salmon.Continue readingIn the Pacific Northwest, Native Fishing Rights Take on a Role as Environmental Protector

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Water & the West

To Manage Groundwater, California Must First Get Basin Boundaries Right

A vineyard in Paso Robles.    Mattyshack via Flickr By Felicity Barringer A hidden treasure, groundwater has long sustained agriculture through California’s cycles of drought. Decades ago, state water officials started researching the geological formations that hold groundwater. By the 1950s, hydrogeologists had created an atlas showing the boundaries of more than 500 groundwater basins or…Continue readingTo Manage Groundwater, California Must First Get Basin Boundaries Right

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Debate & the West Native Nations & the West Public Lands & the West

The Bears Ears National Monument

After months of anticipation, the Obama Administration has designated 1.3 million acres of southeastern Utah as the Bears Ears National Monument. The decision, announced 22 days before the end of the administration, has been met with praise and criticism. Here, we present several perspectives on this momentous decision.Continue readingThe Bears Ears National Monument