… [T]he [Colorado] river’s 46 reservoirs, including the enormous man-made Lake Powell and Lake Mead, now stand more than two-thirds empty, according to a recent report by the Colorado River Research Group. … “We are not running out of water,” said Rhett Larson, professor of water law at Arizona State University and one of the [Colorado River Water Users Association] conference’s keynote speakers. “We are running out of cheap water.” … Amid this ongoing tussle, a few lonely voices, including a right-wing Arizona state representative named Alexander Kolodin, have been proposing a seemingly radical solution: What if we just … gulp … let the market decide?

Other Colorado River management news:

• KJZZ (Phoenix): Saving water in Arizona is expensive. Can big companies help pay for it?
• Arizona’s Family (Phoenix): Yuma braces for possible Colorado River water cuts amid renegotiations
• The Bond Buyer: Colorado River Basin states gird for court battle over water
• Deseret News (Salt Lake City): Poll: What Utahns are willing — and unwilling — to do to save water
• Writers on the Range: Blog: Colorado River faces a day of reckoning