Colorado River leaders must act soon to avoid ‘devastating consequences,’ report says
A new report from a group of widely respected Colorado River experts says the region’s major reservoirs are sliding toward “devastating consequences” as water levels continue to drop. The authors write that another dry year, on the heels of last winter’s record-setting dry conditions, would send the nation’s largest reservoirs to “run-of-the-river” levels, meaning that they are unable to store water for the future, and simply pass water downstream. As a result, the paper’s authors — a group of academics and retired water officials — are calling on state water managers and the federal government to work quickly on new rules for sharing the Colorado River and avert infrastructure problems at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the nation’s two largest reservoirs.
Other Colorado River management news:
- University of Colorado, Boulder: Report: Colorado River basin storage continues slide toward system crash
- Inside Climate News: Colorado River faces ‘devastating consequences’ if another dry winter lands, experts warn
- NPR: Why one of the cities most dependent on the Colorado River now has water for sale
- News From the States: Wyoming, Utah OK’d unlimited lake trout fishing to save Flaming Gorge kokanee, but will anglers help?
