Daniel Rothberg

"Who bears the burden?" A trial in Colorado could determine the fate of a groundwater management plan in the San Luis Valley. Interviews here capture how different outcomes can be over *who* gets water based on approaches using a fee vs. a cap vs. state cuts. insideclimatenews.org/news/0410202...

Yosemite, again in corporate crosshairs, embodies the long war over US national park privatization theconversationus.substack.com/p/the-long-f...

“None of us is in the exact same situation." -- What the new rules for a shrinking Colorado River mean for tribal nations www.hcn.org/articles/wha...

California is about to do something really cool for local journalism, @mattdpearce.com writes. "This should be done for lots of reasons, but most importantly because local news acts like a 'public good' with all sorts of positive side effects..." mattdpearce.substack.com/p/california...

What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing? Thoughtful piece on reasons for the widespread adoption of GenAI in the classroom and the steep costs of handing over writing — "a technology for thinking" — to AI in education settings. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/u...

Nevada/Utah water job alert 🚨 Great Basin Water Network is hiring a new executive director -- a really neat opportunity to work on Great Basin and Colorado River water issues. www.instagram.com/p/DcJrJd7xdDi/

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust, @ianjames.bsky.social reports: www.latimes.com/environment/...

"If this isn’t a program to rebuild storage for the good of all, but is instead a program to try to move water from one state to another, we’re out." This is a good piece on the looming Colorado River cuts. How conserved water is saved and accounted for matters a lot. www.eenews.net/articles/the...

There's a federal plan for the Colorado River. @ianjames.bsky.social has leaked details. It's two years, and there are no mandatory cuts for the Upper Basin. www.latimes.com/environment/...

The state program that helps bring solutions for Californians with contaminated drinking water is facing a major drop in funding. In this week’s @latimes.com Boiling Point newsletter, I wrote about the “fiscal cliff” and what it could mean. www.latimes.com/environment/...

It's crunch time on the Colorado River. Hope you'll join me on Tuesday 7/28 for a conversation with Utah-based journalist @zakpodmore.bsky.social about his super relevant book, "LIFE AFTER DEAD POOL," about the birth and death of Lake Powell. Sign up here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Trump administration approves Cadiz's plan to pipe water out of the Mojave Desert after the company announced a deal to sell water to an agency that serves central Arizona farmers dealing with Colorado River cuts. More from @ianjames.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...

We're hiring! Please share this with your networks. CalMatters and @grist.org seek a reporter to cover the impacts of climate change in California’s Central Valley, a vibrant and diverse community that serves as the nation’s bread basket while sitting at the center of important climate issues.

"A deal to bring Colorado River water to Native American communities in northern Arizona, where a third of homes lack running water, is being blocked by neighboring states, caught up in a broader battle over how to divide the dwindling river." www.propublica.org/article/colo...

"Springs collectively supply the baseflow that sustains river systems through dry seasons and droughts — the water that keeps a river running when the rains are gone." | The Forgotten Frontlines of Freshwater Conservation springstewardship.substack.com/p/the-forgot...

In the Rocky Mountains, spring-fed streams and ponds have vanished, leaving patches of cracked mud. This year has been so extremely warm and arid that the mountains have remained largely snowless. The source of the Colorado River is drying up. @rgauth999.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...

"We live and die by snowpack," says orchardist Bruce Talbott. "We didn't get any this year." @lukerunyon.bsky.social on the crisis facing the Colorado River through the lens of endangered fish recovery and shortages for farming communities. www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...

Colorado River experts say agriculture must make permanent cuts to water use. "A reset in the Colorado River basin really is needed. We have a lot of agriculture that’s really a legacy of how the United States was settled" aspenjournalism.org/colorado-riv...

This on repeat. We have to be able to talk about many different solutions at once.

The Colorado River is vanishing — and the fixes are getting weird. Desalination. Pipelines. Cloud seeding. Groundwater exports. grist.org/solutions/th...

“For river ecosystems to survive dry times, they need their floods — and big, messy floodplains.” reasonstobecheerful.world/letting-a-ri...

The U.S. Supreme Court approved an agreement to resolve interstate litigation over groundwater pumping along the Rio Grande. The settlement includes reduced groundwater pumping and water rights retirements. www.texastribune.org/2026/05/28/t...

“Five straight years of record heat, sporadic rainfall and divided leadership has Corpus Christi in danger of becoming the first U.S. city to run short of water.” @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2026/05/29/t...

Happy Pub Day to John Fleck and Robert Berrens, authors of Ribbons of Green: The Rio Grande and the Making of Modern Albuquerque, which explores how Albuquerque built its environment to create a valley floor that its residents have come to adore and how, in a climate-altered world, we might keep it.

In Oklahoma, oil field wastewater has caused an underground pollution crisis for residents and access to clean, safe drinking water. Important investigative reporting from @nickbowlin.bsky.social with @propublica.org & @readfrontier.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/toxi...

It’s possible for decision makers to hide behind competing narratives because water issues are so complicated. But after 15 years of reporting on water in the Southwest, much of the discussion appears to me as delusional." —  @zakpodmore.bsky.social www.cityweekly.net/news/lake-po...

Roughly 600,000 Californians still lack access to safe and reliable drinking water supplies. The problem will cost billions to fix. So why is the Newsom administration considering a climate overhaul that could gut a key source of funding?

"Between 1998 and 2020, the average cost of water, sewer and trash collection services increased more than twice as much as the overall U.S. consumer price index, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics." www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

“All of a sudden it looks different, tastes different, there’s odor, there’s color." Important look (in the San Luis Valley) at how groundwater depletion can increase contaminants, threatening drinking water for residents with private wells and few protections. insideclimatenews.org/news/0805202...

The newly released Sierra Nevada Atlas is a collection of maps, geospatial datasets, and associated text that presents geologic map layers, geophysical layers, economic geology layers, neotectonic features, and geochronology for the Sierra Nevada. www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/sierra-n...

Corpus Christi Plans to Declare a ‘Water Emergency.’ What Does That Mean? More from @dylanbaddour.bsky.social insideclimatenews.org/news/2304202...

Arizona groundwater ruling could be 'death knell' for 100-year water supply rule, expert says. Important case to watch as it goes through the appeals process. Good Q&A here from @kjzz.org www.kjzz.org/the-show/202...

Went down to the Colorado River in Grand Junction to see what this very low flow looks like. Plenty of exposed cobble bars. Looking low and slow and what you might expect to see in late summer with heavy diversion upstream. Not the start of spring runoff.

I'm having a hard time believing my eyes with water data this year. The Colorado River mainstem through Grand Junction was flowing at 54 cfs last night. Not a typo. 54 cfs. Last year on this date it was flowing at 1,420cfs. Even in 2002, the driest year on record, it was at 690cfs on April 22.

“These are necessary short-term adjustments, not a long-term fix. Real stability will require conservation across the entire Colorado River Basin.” www.latimes.com/environment/...

The Colorado River—which did not always flow through the Grand Canyon region—may have begun to carve its path through it after an ancient lake overflowed roughly 5.6 million years ago. Learn more this week in Science: https://scim.ag/3QbdtrE

Truckee River friends: A great opportunity to learn about the riparian ecosystem in the Lower Truckee, restoration and flow regimes under the current operating rules. www.dri.edu/truckee_ripa...

Congratulations to @cetracey.bsky.social on publication day for her debut book of essays, "Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History." Wonderful writing, reporting and thought! Highly recommend checking it out🧂 🌊 www.hcn.org/issues/58-3/...

"Attacks on civilian systems, including water systems, must be condemned and punished under the laws of war." | Desalination, water, and war by @petergleick.bsky.social thebulletin.org/2026/03/desa...

Given the latest NOAA CBRFC inflow forecast for Lake Powell, I dusted off this plot from my Twitter days and updated it. The Feb 1st outlook for Colorado River flows hasn't been this poor in >35 years. Even if wetter weather ahead, bottom-10 outcome likely. h/t @glenwoodrek.bsky.social

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

Arizona takes action on groundwater overuse And ‘nonfunctional turf’ is taken to court A fascinating read by @danielrothberg.bsky.social — and thanks for flagging the story, Daniel! open.substack.com/pub/invisibl...

"Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said Monday that her administration is acting to 'crack down on the out-of-state special interests that are pumping our state dry while Arizona families and farmers suffer.'" From @ianjames.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...

The U.S. government released its draft environmental review of options for new Colorado River rules to replace current operating guidelines that expire this year. Sounds dry but very important for a watershed that supports 40 million people in the Southwest. coloradosun.com/2026/01/09/c...

National assessment of river protection in the U.S. Article: doi.org/10.1038/s418... Policy Brief: doi.org/10.1038/s418... Rivers Explorer: map.myriver.americanrivers.org Collaboration b/t American Rivers, Conservation Science Partners, Univ WA @americanrivers.bsky.social Thread 👇 | DM for PDF

"...the ghost of Tulare Lake has much more to teach us than its existence alone. Tulare Lake wasn’t drained because it failed. It was drained because it worked, precisely as nature intended." @andrewrypel.bsky.social writes on America's Ghost Lake tnature.substack.com/p/americas-g...

"The drop (in Lake Powell) is compressing the margin between routine operations and hard infrastructure limits at Glen Canyon Dam as negotiations over post-2026 Colorado River operating rules remain unresolved." www.enr.com/articles/622...

This is so sad on so many levels.

"One of the West’s most valuable resources has no consistent valuation – and sometimes costs nothing at all." | California cities pay a lot for water; some agricultural districts get it for free calmatters.org/environment/...