Thursday Top of the Scroll: ‘A blaring alarm’ issued for Colorado River as heat wave melts snow early
The Colorado River system’s immediate outlook got even worse this week when federal forecasters downgraded the expected inflows into Lake Powell to just 27 percent of average. … The news comes days after the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that manages water and dams in the American West, released a bleak warning for levels at Lake Mead. … Meanwhile, officials from the seven states in the Colorado River Basin have blown past two separate deadlines to update river operation guidelines that will expire this year. The Bureau of Reclamation and its parent Interior Department have said they will decide for the states in the absence of an agreement. … In a statement Wednesday, the Bureau of Reclamation said its staff is keeping a close eye on the forecast.
Other Colorado River management news:
- The Salt Lake Tribune: Record heat could accelerate Utah’s Colorado River water crisis after historic dry winter
- Deseret Times (Salt Lake City): How this year’s historically low snowpack will affect the West
- Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix): A crack in Arizona’s Colorado River front
- John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: The Colorado River and the tragedy of the anti-commons
- American Rivers: Blog: A call for leadership in the Colorado River Basin
- Sibley’s Rivers: Blog: Romancing the river – the era of conquest part 2
