Facing an abysmal snowpack and spring runoff, the state’s largest Front Range water provider has enacted an agreement that lets it take more water from the Western Slope for a limited time. On March 18, Denver Water put the Shoshone call reduction agreement into effect with water rights owner Xcel Energy, which allows Denver Water to divert more water from the headwaters of the Colorado River in an attempt to alleviate shortages. The agreement reduces the call at the Shoshone hydroelectric plant in Glenwood Canyon by half, from 1,408 cfs to 704 cfs. 

Other Colorado River management and Western drought news:

• Boulder Daily Camera (Colo.): Boulder urges water reduction as city enters ‘drought watch’
• Lake Powell Chronicle (Miami, Ariz.): The 100-year error: how selective science drained the Colorado
• Inside Climate News: The warm, dry winter has left firefighters in Wyoming nervous
• Climate Central: Blog: Record snow drought limits Western water supplies
• Las Vegas Review-Journal: Editorial: Nevada deserves to be treated fairly in water discussions
• WyoFile (Cheyenne): Opinion: We can’t prevent drought, but we don’t have to feed it.
• The Sopris Sun (Cortez, Colo.): Opinion: My river is gone