Thirsty States Agree to Curb Water Use

After years of draining Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the country, Arizona, California and Nevada have agreed to reduce their use of Colorado River water in exchange for about $1 billion from the federal government.

Lake Mead supplies water to 25 million people in these states and gets most of its water from the Colorado River. Upstream along the Colorado is Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir. But a longterm drought in the West has reduced the flow of the Colorado, even though our growing, thirsty population continues to use more water. So both reservoirs have seen dramatic drops in their water levels.

After Lake Mead dropped to dangerously low levels, the Secretary of the Interior declared a Tier 1 water shortage in August of 2021.This forced Arizona and Nevada to take less water from the Colorado. Through old water agreements, California has not had to cut its use.

But the drought continued and Lake Mead continued to dry up, forcing the federal government to declare a more severe Tier 2 water shortage last August, which would force even deeper cuts in water use this year.

Arizona, Nevada and California are the three Lower Basin States of the Colorado River. Arizona already has taken the biggest cuts, including to the Central Arizona Project, a large aqueduct that carries water from the Colorado to the middle of the state, including Phoenix, and then continuing down past Tucson.

Rare Rembrandts Up for Auction

Two Rembrandt paintings previously unknown to art scholars will be up for auction this summer after not being seen in public for 200 years!

The desert Southwest’s rivers, lakes and canals

The federal government insisted that the states come up with a new plan that would further cut water use to help Lake Mead replenish. A battle was brewing over a new round of cuts. But with a deadline looming, the three states agreed each would take 10 percent less water from what they’re currently allowed. In turn, the states will get around $1 billion in federal funds to share. This will reduce the strain on the Colorado River by 3 million acre-feet of water through 2026. Large amounts of water are measured in acre-feet, which equals about 326,000 gallons.

President Joe Biden called the agreement “an important step forward in our efforts to protect the stability of the Colorado River System in the face of climate change and historic drought conditions.”

Griner Returns to the WNBA Court

Brittney Griner made a triumphant return to basketball last month for the Phoenix Mercury!

Griner’s first game back saw the Mercury playing an away game against the Los Angeles Sparks. According to ESPN, the matchup was the most viewed regular season WNBA game on cable in 24 years. While the Sparks won the game, Griner led the Mercury with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. Not bad after spending 600 days away from the league! Her return to the court even drew a standing ovation, but Griner was all business when speaking after the game.

“At the end of the day, I’m at work. I have a job to do,” Griner said after her first game back. “I can’t get caught up in the moment. Kind of feel it, but put it to the side for a little bit and feel it later.”

Griner was arrested in Russia in February 2022 and convicted of a crime before being sentenced to nine years in prison. She spent nearly 10 months in prison in the Eastern European country.

While she was detained, many of Griner’s fellow athletes, including LeBron James, were outspoken about supporting the WNBA star and advocating for her release. Many of her WNBA teammates wore special shirts and pins as a tribute to Griner while she was detained. After declaring her wrongfully detained, the United States government worked for months to negotiate Griner’s release. She was ultimately released on Dec. 8, 2022.

At the time she was detained, Griner was overseas playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA off-season. It is common for WNBA players to play for teams overseas in the off-season to supplement their salaries in the WNBA.

Griner has been playing for the Phoenix Mercury since 2013 and had been playing for Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinburg in the off-season since 2014. Before playing professionally, she played at Baylor University. She made history there by setting the all-time single season record for blocked shots during her freshman year!

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, often known simply as Rembrandt, created the paintings in 1635. They feature an elderly husband and wife from a prominent Dutch family. The paintings stayed in Europe until James Murray put them up for sale with Christie’s, a well-known auction house, in June 1824. Since the sale two centuries ago, the paintings have remained in Britain in a private collection. Experts were unaware of the paintings until the family completed an inspection of their possessions.

Once discovered, the paintings’ provenance, or their origin and history, were investigated. Experts reviewed the details of the 1824 sale and conducted research, including scientific analysis, to confirm that the paintings were original Rembrandts. The paintings are again being auctioned through Christie’s. Henry Pettifer, the international deputy chairman of Old Master Paintings at Christie’s, says the rediscovery of the paintings was incredibly exciting.

“Painted with a deep sense of humanity, these are amongst the smallest and most intimate portraits that we know by Rembrandt, adding something new to our understanding of him,” said Pettifer in a statement.

Rembrandt was a Dutch painter best known for his realism and portraits. His work is world-renowned and hangs in some of the most high-profile museums.

The recently rediscovered paintings are expected to bring between $6.25 million and $10 million for both. This is certainly no small sum but may be cheap by comparison. In 2009, another Rembrandt portrait sold for a whopping $25.3 million. Seven years later, two Rembrandt portraits were acquired by the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum, two museums in Europe, for more than $85 million each! They became the most expensive Old Master paintings ever sold.