Richael Young

On a mission to align agricultural profitability with water stewardship. Chief water nerd @mammoth_water + building product @era_economics. Views my own.

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

🥗 Did you eat a salad this week? Chances are that lettuce was grown in the Lower Colorado. As the basin grapples with shortages, it’s important to understand the ripple effects of water cuts, including on food prices.

[ERA Economics @ERA_Economics]

How would water cuts affect rural jobs, winter produce, and food prices? In a follow-up to our previous blog post, we explore the regional and secondary impacts of water cuts in the Lower Colorado River.
https://t.co/a9JRi8ILg1

[PPIC Water @PPICWater]

Is "water wasted to the sea" really a thing?

In short, no.

In our blog today, adjunct fellow Greg Gartrell explains what's really preventing California from capturing more water from recent storms - and he dispels that persistent, pernicious myth. https://t.co/0nEcSLbf0E

[ERA Economics @ERA_Economics]

What would it look like to achieve 2 million acre-feet of reductions on the Lower Colorado River? We ran three scenarios to show how different policies would affect users in the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada.
#ColoradoRiver #crb #water
https://t.co/ScJXdzkzNa

[John Hanna @APjdhanna]

Rime of the Ogallala Aquifer:

Experts warn farmers and ranchers in W KS must stop pumping more water out of the aquifer than nature puts back or risk the economic collapse of a region important to the US food supply. It's setting up a big #ksleg fight.

https://t.co/IALEWND1gf

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

@PHXWaterAdvisor @LukeRunyon Agreed with @PHXWaterAdvisor. While inter-basin transfer is indeed very expensive, it's far from an AZ concept. Denver, Imperial, LA, SD, Tijuana...

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

This is the whole point: the costs of noncompliance must exceed the benefits of noncompliance.

"Unfortunately... the economic gains that folks can get by violating curtailment orders are greater than the potential penalties available to us," Rizzardo said.

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

"A $4,000 fine isn’t much of a deterrent to prevent illegal water diversions during California’s droughts. The proposed fine would amount to about $50 per rancher."

Strong enforcement is critical to managing water. Otherwise, the regs are meaningless. An instructive case study.

[CalMatters @CalMatters]

New: California’s water officials plan to impose a $4,000 fine on Siskiyou County ranchers for violating orders to cut back their water use during a weeklong standoff last summer. https://t.co/LcSguQ5mIM

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

The whole article is worth a read:
"They obviously don’t have much enforcement power, because they showed up and told us, 'Shut your pumps off right now.' And we said no," said Lemos. "You would think they’d get an injunction and shut the pumps off, wouldn’t they?"

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

Sigh. Another day in water.

[Annalise (she/her) @annalisemporter]

Buschatzke says he thinks the basin parties are so far apart from agreement that the risk of litigation is growing quickly, and feeling likely. 🧵

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

It’s worse than you thought. DMV staff are not sloths, they’re demons.

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

*Correction: My math was bad. It's actually $380,160 per acre-foot.

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

Trucking in water for a cool $316,549 per acre-foot. 💀https://t.co/rq1NDsPHd8

[Jay Lund @JayLund113]

A nice summary of economic issues and approaches for reducing and reallocating water use in the Colorado River basin by ERA Economics (including Prof. Richard Howitt).
https://t.co/W3ZuMpfgF9

[Alex Funk @alexanderJfunk]

People will literally doing anything except just using less water

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

Another $100M for the restoration of state canals. This is an incredible win for the Central Valley.

(In California, big bucks flow to Dems in swing districts... 👀💸)
#cawater #politics
https://t.co/ecAKLCMf8j

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

In the Colorado River Basin, a lot of money is at stake. Let's commit to stewardship, set the right metrics, and design for durability.

New blog from our team @ERA_Economics.

[ERA Economics @ERA_Economics]

Given the substantial sums of taxpayer dollars at stake, we conducted a reconnaissance-level review of recent programs in the Colorado River Basin to establish comparable price ranges.
#coloradoriver #crb #water #economics
https://t.co/XJmc4EB61e

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

When developing a groundwater allocation, design with the end in mind and equipped with your handy Allocation Toolbox. https://t.co/178or3dPYb

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

100% yes to this! H/t @PHXWater and @WaltonFamilyFdn. 👏

This has been at the forefront of our minds @ERA_Economics: the importance of not squandering this opportunity, but to invest wisely and cost-effectively in CRB water security.
https://t.co/2irjuahwiI

[Richael Young @RichaelYoung]

Pumped (pun intended)! Don't miss it -- our panel will be covering data and strategy for groundwater management. It's going to be a great session! 🤓

[ERA Economics @ERA_Economics]

Come join us at the 2022 Western Groundwater Congress, where our own @RichaelYoung will be talking about allocation designs for groundwater management. 💧

[Mammoth Water @mammoth_water]

🦣💧🥺
https://t.co/QSIljHZYQf