Steadily falling elevations of Lake Mead, the largest storage reservoir in the West, reinforce the need for Western cities to emphasize conservation as a source of "new" water.
Lake Mead's a little less than half full but enough about the Southwest and its talent for running down its reservoirs. Things are looking interesting with storm water harvesting in Seattle.
Washing machine rebates as temporary salvos are being funded for Southern California after a less than ample water year on the Colorado River and in other Western watersheds.
Lake Mead hovered at around 1,122.39 feet, or roughly 53% full at the close of January, 2013, more than 55 feet lower than the comparable January closing in 2002, the year when it was finally recognized that a long term dry spell was about to grip the Colorado River system.
"Aquifer Storage and Recovery" technology combined with water trading might just be California's best chance of riding out dry times, but water agencies are unwilling to share their data with state regulators and previous boondoggles demand skepticism that ASR and trades are the most effective protections in an era of climate change and drought.
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