Magazine
Divided Waters

March 12, 2001

El Paso, Texas, is dependent on the underground waters of the Hueco Bolson, but as the population grows and the bolson declines, both the city and its sister across the border, Ciudad Juarez, are turning to the already overtaxed Rio Grande.

Feature

Divided Waters
El Paso, Texas, is dependent on the underground waters of the Hueco Bolson, but as the population grows and the bolson declines, both the city and its sister across the border, Ciudad Juarez, are turning to the already overtaxed Rio Grande.

Sidebar

Hung out to dry
Many of the Mexican and Mexican-American residents of Texas' border colonias lost their jobs when NAFTA moved a lot of industry south of the border.

Book Reviews

The other Mexico
In "True Tales from Another Mexico," journalist Sam Quinones explores the "unofficial Mexico" and its stubborn innovators, risk-takers and rebels, whose stories seldom make the news.
Keeping ranchers' options open
New Mexico rancher Sid Goodloe has started the Southern Rockies Agricultural Land Trust to convince his neighbors that conservation easements to preserve private land are a fine idea.
Priests preach to the choir: Protect the Columbia
The Roman Catholic bishops of the Pacific Northwest have released a long-awaiting pastoral letter on the duty to protect the Columbia River: "The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good."
Water Watch
The new Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network (BASIN) Web site gives water quality and other environmental information on Boulder, Colo.'s Boulder Creek watershed.
Land Use Conference
Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute's conference on land use will be held April 19-20 at the University of Denver.

Perspective

Yellowstone's last stampede
A visit to Yellowstone in winter leads to encounters with park employees eager for (and snowmobilers vehemently against) the coming banishment of snowmobiles from the national park.

News

State to coyote hunters: Let the games begin
Conservationists say Salt Lake City's nomination of a cartoon coyote as mascot to the 2002 Winter Olympics is hypocritical, given Utah's coyote-killing bounty program.
Will logging save the spotted owl?
In Oregon, a plan to selectively log the Clatsop and Tillamook state forests is supposed to improve habitat for the threatened northern spotted owl, but conservationists have their doubts.
The latest bounce
Analyzing election's growth-related measures; Gale Norton will keep new monuments, with some changes; agencies ordered to study antelope in Ariz.; tentative agreement on Jarbidge River road in Utah; Pueblo activists fight proposed cement plant.
Suburban sprawl hits tribal land
The tribes of the Tulalip Indian Reservation, Wash., alarmed by sprawling development, have made an agreement with the county to preserve reservation land, but some say it isn't strong enough.
Navajos at odds about marinas
Some Navajos fear the tribe's planned Antelope Point Marina in Arizona will harm archaeological and ceremonial sites.
Back on the bus
Grand Canyon's plan to cut traffic in the park by building a light-rail train system has been derailed because of its cost, and the park has been told to use buses instead.
Wetlands get dumped on
A Supreme Court decision has stripped federal protection from about one-third of the nation's wetlands.
Downwinders fight for their due
Protesters in Salt Lake City charge that the federal government has yet to fully compensate people in Utah, Nevada and Idaho whose health was harmed by the nuclear-bomb testing that started 50 years ago.
Colorado program axed
The Colorado Natural Areas Program, which has been cataloging rare animal and plant habitat and geological and fossil-rich formations, may end this summer when its state funding dries up.
Fiddling with FERC
Environmentalists say a bill intended to speed up the dam relicensing process at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission might lead to inadequate environmental assessments.
Last stand for a roadside attraction
Cody, Wyo., historian Bob Edgar fears that his Old Trail Town, a "virtual" frontier settlement created using relocated historic buildings and cabins, is threatened by the city's plan to buy and develop nearby open space.
Washington, unplugged
With the Bonneville Power Administration saying that it can't meet demand over the next five years, Washington's Gov. Gary Locke has announced a plan to encourage energy efficiency, conservation and diversification.

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Sacajawea and York honored at last; wind farm on Nev. Test Site; 60 years stealing electricity; housing prices, traffic woes in N. Calif.; houses in Jackson Hole; drivers can't drink in Wyo.; parking ticket scofflaws in Denver; Utah atheists on war path.

Dear Friends

Dear Friends
"Divided waters" lead story; Sandy Tolan's radio advice; reader feedback; HCN business folk; congratulations to Chip Giller and correction.

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