How the West was parched

WATER wars in the West are fierce now, but it’s bound to get worse in the decades ahead. Global warming could reduce the amount of water stored as snow in the mountains by as much as 70% in 50 years, according to a study by the Department of Energy.

The predicted result: increased fall and winter flooding and severe spring and summer drought that will play havoc with agriculture, fisheries and the hydropower industry. Further, it would change all the rules for managing dams, reservoirs and irrigation schedules.

The report was delivered at the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in Seattle earlier this month. The prediction -- billed as very conservative -- contends the snow line in the Sierra Nevada and Cascades would rise from 3,000 feet to above 4,000. And if that weren’t enough, the report doesn’t even take into account the possibility of population growth in the West that would only increase the demand for water.

The only good news in the report is that the Rockies will not be affected as much because winters there tend to be colder and the mountains higher.

-- J. Michael Kennedy