A Flurry of Stories on the Lack of Flurries

In the last week it seems like suddenly everyone in the West is talking about the weather -- or the lack of it. The lack of snow and hence snow pack in particular. While it is early in the season and much can still change, the current clear skies seem to be motivating a flurry of media coverage of issues related to snow, climate, flows and related concerns in the region.

One of the more interesting discussions I've come across was on a recent On Point show -- Can the Southwest Survive Climate Change. The discussion was broader than the recent weather patterns, and addressed issues ranging from development to fire to, of course, water.

The story is built in part around discussions of two books, both of which sound as if they deserve a read from any western river lover -- and maybe those outside of the region. The first book is written by William deBuys -- A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest. The second is a book about Phoenix -- Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City by Andrew Ross.

After hearing this story on Thursday, I noticed a small flurry of stories about the current water year in the West, including a blog post from John Fleck in New Mexico called 2012: back to draining the Colorado River’s reservoirs?, an interview with Utah's top hydrologist Where's the snow?, a story about Central Colorado's low snowpack and California's Fresno Bee story titled Dry season threatens farmers, return of salmon to San Joaquin River.

National stories abounded as well, including: Scientific America's story titled U.S. Snow Drought Could Have Serious Implications, Time magazine's look at water supply issues in southern California with links to related stories about drought in Texas, the south, and even Somalia and U.S.A. Today's story about how the drought in Texas threatens whopping cranes..

While it is still early in the water year for specific, dire predictions for the short-term, it is interesting to see how the issue of climate change is -- or is not -- incorporated into the media discussions around our water year and snow pack.