First ever federal water cuts ordered for Southwest states amid Colorado River drought
As climate change continues to exacerbate a drought in the Colorado River, the Department of the Interior has declared a shortage that will lead to the first-ever federally mandated cuts of the river’s supply to a number of states in the American Southwest.
The Bureau of Reclamation, which operates within the Interior Department, said the cuts would go into effect after the drought brought the levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the country’s two largest reservoirs which are fed by the Colorado River,to historically low levels.
Lake Mead provides water to about 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, California and even Mexico, according to the National Park Service. However, it is currently only at about 40% capacity. The Colorado River supplies water to even more people — over 40 million — in seven states (the three mentioned above as well as New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming) and Mexico.
However, starting Jan. 1, both Arizona (18%) and Nevada (7%) will have the Colorado River supply cut. The reduction in Arizona alone will be roughly equivalent to the total that would serve 1.5 million households.
—New York Daily News
Biden to resume oil, gas drilling-rights sales as appeal unfolds
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is appealing a federal judge’s ruling against its moratorium on the sale of new drilling rights and expanding its scrutiny of the activity.
“Federal onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing will continue as required by the district court while the government’s appeal is pending,” the Interior Department said in an emailed statement Monday.
The announcement comes ahead of an Aug. 24 court deadline for the administration to explain how it was complying with a federal district court’s June order that leasing should resume, or risk a finding of contempt. The Interior Department has not yet issued public plans for new or rescheduled lease sales, amid mounting pressure from Congress and the oil industry.
The agency is now embarking on a broad review of the federal oil, gas and coal leasing program, including its climate impact.President Joe Biden had ordered the pause and an analysis of oil and gas leasing on Jan. 27.
“In complying with the district court’s mandate, Interior will continue to exercise the authority and discretion provided under the law to conduct leasing in a manner that takes into account the program’s many deficiencies,” the agency said.
—Bloomberg News
Robert Durst admits in court he found Susan Berman’s body, wrote ‘cadaver note’
LOS ANGELES — After years spent denying it, Robert Durst admitted in court Monday he authored a critical piece of evidence in his Los Angeles trial — the so-called cadaver note — after discovering the body of the woman he is now charged with killing, Susan Berman.
Durst, 78, testified last week that he and Berman had planned a Christmas “staycation” in Los Angeles and that he was traveling to see her the week she was killed. On Monday morning, he described arriving at her house in December 2000 and entering using a key she had mailed him, only to find his decadeslong confidante bleeding on the floor a short time later.
“I did a double take. I saw Susan lying on the floor,” he said. “I shouted ‘Susan!’ a couple of times, then I quickly ran to the bedroom where she was. Her eyes were closed.”
Durst said after checking to see if Berman had a pulse and trying to lift her off the floor, he ran to another room to call 911 but claimed the phone line was not working. After that, he said he left the home and tried to contact authorities from a pay phone on Sunset Boulevard, roughly two miles away.
But when an operator answered his call from the pay phone, Durst said he started to have reservations.
“I decided I did not want to give them my name,” he said. “I was aware that my voice is very recognizable even without a name.”
Durst said he instead opted to write what has come to be known as the “cadaver note” — a scrap of paper containing only Berman’s address on Benedict Canyon Drive and the word “cadaver” — and mailed it to the Beverly Hills Police Department. Under questioning from his lead defense attorney, Dick DeGuerin, Durst admitted he had lied about authoring the note repeatedly over the years,including during interviews for the HBO documentary series “The Jinx.”
“It’s a very difficult thing to believe,” he said Monday. “I mean I have difficulty believing it myself, that I would write the letter if I had not killed Susan Berman.”
—Los Angeles Times
