expire

The Colorado River serves nearly 40 million people in seven U.S. states and Mexico. It provides water for 5 million acres of farmland. Increasing demand from growing populations, damming, diversion, and drought have been draining the Colorado at alarming rates. This critical resource supports countless economies, communities, and ecologies stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. The Colorado River essentially has made the cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, and Phoenix possible.

How the water of the Colorado is distributed is determined by an agreement that is over 100 years old: the Colorado River Compact. It was made at a time when people thought there was more water than really was there. And at the time, no one thought that the seven states would need to use the water they were allocated down to the last drop.

There have been various measures over the years to conserve water from the Colorado River, including the Colorado River Interim Guidelines in 2007. Those guidelines will expire in 2026 and negotiations are beginning to take place among the many stakeholders scrambling for water rights. Apart from the seven U.S. states and Mexico, there are 30 tribal nations involved. Collaborative governance is complicated when it crosses multiple jurisdictions with their own laws and legal precedents. The goal is to put in place a new agreement to protect the Colorado River.

Rapidly-growing populations in major cities, a 20-year megadrought, and historically low water levels in America’s two largest reservoirs have put enormous pressure on the Colorado River. Creating a plan to protect the lifeblood of the American West is essential.

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Addressing the Colorado River crisis

Photo, posted June 18, 2022, courtesy of Jeff Hollett via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lithium, the key element in the batteries that power electric cars, as well as smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers, is sometimes called white gold. Over time, the price of the metal has gone up and up. But recently, and surprisingly, the price of lithium has actually gone down, helping to make electric vehicles more affordable.

Over the first couple of months of this year, the price of lithium has dropped by nearly 20%. The price of cobalt, another important component of vehicle batteries, has fallen by more than half. Even copper, another battery material, has seen its price drop by 18%.

Many analysts predicted that prices of these commodities would stay high or even climb higher. The reason for the decline, as well as whether it is likely to persist, is the subject of much debate.

Some experts believe that the price drops are a result of demand not being as high as expected, perhaps related to slowing sales growth of EVs in Europe and China after certain subsidies expired. Other industry experts said that the drop was a result of new mines and processing plants providing additional supply sooner than was thought possible.

Despite the price drops, mining and processing lithium remains an extraordinarily profitable business. It costs from $5,000 to $8,000 to produce a ton of lithium that sells for ten times that amount. With such fat profit margins, there is no shortage of banks and investors eager to finance lithium mining and processing projects. Such profit margins are probably not sustainable and that will likely result in more reasonable prices over time.

There is plenty of lithium in the world. The huge demand for it is a recent phenomenon and the world is still working out how to meet that demand.

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Falling Lithium Prices Are Making Electric Cars More Affordable

Photo, posted January 9, 2023, courtesy of Phillip Pessar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Colorado River crisis

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Falling Lithium Prices | Earth Wise

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