Bloggers discuss drought, politics and Colorado’s water history

With 67 million people blogging and news blogs rivaling mainstream media, the amount of information being churned out in posts is overwhelming—but recently a few themes have emerged that warrant attention.

Bloggers are profusely discussing drought—and with good reason given that most of the west is facing some level of drought.

Why we all need to Care About Drought in the West
Jeff Simonetti of the Hydrowonk Blog discusses how the drought in the mid-west, especially in Kansas, impacts economies globally.

Drought Is Long Running Issue In USA, 7 States Running Out Of Water
Paul Ebeling, a Pattern Recognition Analyst, in equities, commodities and forex, covers the severity of current drought conditions and ranks the seven worst states in order of severity.

In California, Groundwater Softens Drought’s Punch – That’s Both Good News and Bad
In Circle of Blue, Brett Walton presents how groundwater is helping the Central Valley fair better than expected—but the resulting draw down of the aquifer may spell detriment for region in future droughts.

Severe drought impacts to Central Valley agriculture forecast this year
The California WaterBlog, which is published by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, also looks at the economic impact of the drought in the Central Valley—finding significant economic and job losses.

The California Drought Is Far From Over, And The Entire State Is Suffering
Carly Schwartz and Lydia O’Connor, writing for the Huffington Post, catalog the hardships that either have resulted from the drought or are expected as a result of drought—including wildfires, forecasted food price increases, and drops in donations to food banks—as well as some of the water use restrictions imposed on the public.

Bloggers also looked at politics and water.

California’s Misguided Water Policy – Latest Approach Attracts Troubling Bedfellows
The Natural Resource Defense Council’s Kate Poole penned a piece critical of the Brown Administration’s water policy, which she argues lacks clear direction—pushing both sustainable water policy and  a “19th century exploitation mentality.”  With an eye on the Bay-Delta, Poole argues that the administration’s policy is headed in the wrong direction.

The Politics of Nebraska’s Water Future
With states in the throes of drought, the tug-of-war for the resource is intensifying.  On the Hydrowonk Blog, Jeff Simonetti looks at how this is playing out in Nebraska’s mid-term elections.

The final piece in this roundup is just plain informative.

Water Lines: A brief history of Colorado water
The Water Center at Colorado Mesa University in cooperation with the Colorado and Gunnison Basin Roundtables is producing a series of articles “to raise awareness about water needs, uses and policies in our region.” In this piece, the Water Information Program provides a primer on Colorado’s water history.

Written by Marta Weismann