Water

The US drought monitor (most recently updated November 13th) shows that 51.9% of Oregon’s land mass is in “severe drought,” with 34.3% in “extreme drought” characterized by major crop/pasture losses, and widespread water shortages or restrictions. This news comes as California battles extreme November wildfires. Eugene had 15 inches of rain less than normal during the last “water year” (October 1st, 2017 to September 30th, 2018). As PSMag notes, “The Oregon drought this year is most striking because it covers many coastal areas known historically as some of the wettest in the country… ‘We have a pretty severe drought here in Oregon right now, partially due to the low snowpack last year, which really set the ball into motion,’ said Kathie Dello, associate director of the Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University. ‘Now we’re into the rainy season, and it’s not raining.’ That low snowpack was due, in part, to higher temperatures. Portland, for instance, saw its hottest year in recorded history, with more days above 90 degrees than ever before.” ...

Major news from Nevada. The SNWA water grab has been completely rejected — at least for now. This project has been looming over eastern Nevada for decades. Now there is some space to relax, and to gather strength for the next fight. There are many other issues plaguing this region: pinyon juniper deforestation, mining, overgrazing, energy development, and so on. The land still needs defenders. Press Release by Great Basin Water Network ...

“Contemporary public concern for protecting nature’s ecological equilibrium should lead to the conferral of standing upon environmental objects to sue for their own preservation.” Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Sierra Club v. Morton (1972) Denver, Colorado–In a first-in-the-nation lawsuit filed in federal court, the Colorado River is asking for judicial recognition of itself as a “person,” with rights of its own to exist and flourish. The lawsuit, filed against the Governor of Colorado, seeks a recognition that the State of Colorado can be held liable for violating those rights held by the River. ...

National Day of Action, Tuesday, November 15th 2016.

A Gathering for Celebration, Community, Movement Building, Ecology, and Land Defense Formerly Sacred Water Tour Join us on Memorial Day weekend for a campout and tour of basin and range country threatened by the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s proposed groundwater pipeline project. This year’s Sacred Water, Sacred Forests Camp will bring visitors to the lands affected by the water grab to learn about the project and the threatened sacred lands and waters. ...

By Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press Endangered salmon blocked for nearly a century from hundreds of miles of the Klamath River in Oregon and California are expected to return en masse under unusual agreements signed Wednesday to tear down four hydroelectric dams. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who signed agreements with the governors of both states, said the plan would bring about one of the largest river restoration projects in the history of the U.S. ...

Lierre Keith, Deep Green Resistance co-founder, recently wrote one of the most powerful articles that we have read in a long, long time. Her piece, titled The Girls and the Grasses, is like poetry. We invite you to read it here: Link: http://dgrnewsservice.org/2015/08/25/lierre-keith-the-girls-and-the-grasses/ – Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International writes about the colonial and racist origins of the “conservation” movement. His organization helps push an alternate perspective. ...

Logging. Pesticides and herbicides. Development. Sexual assault. White supremacy. All these are pressing issues in the Eugene area. The local Deep Green Resistance chapter is actively organizing around these issues, and working with other DGR members and allies across the region and the world on other issues as well. On Saturday, members of Deep Green Resistance Eugene joined other DGR members from across the region for a protest against a proposed Nestlé bottled water plant at Cascade Locks, Oregon. Nestlé, with the help of local government and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, seeks to build a 118 million gallon per-year bottling plant. ...