Who shoulders Mother Nature’s cut of the Colorado River?
Alongside farmers, ranchers and sprawling urban cities, Mother Nature has long sipped her share of the Colorado River — draining away enough water through evaporation and seepage to support nearly 6 million families each year. But as decades of drought strain major reservoirs in the Mountain West, threatening future water supplies and hydropower, states are divided over who should be picking up nature’s tab for the huge amount of water lost on the 1,500-mile-long waterway. The Upper Basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — already account for some 468,000 acre-feet of water that evaporates from its reservoirs each year.
Related articles:
- The San Diego Union-Tribune: Opinion – Sens. Padilla & Feinstein: Solving the worsening drought in the western states will require all of us working together
- Los Angeles Times: Opinion – How California can break the Colorado River stalemate
- NBC – Bay Area: Colorado River Issues in California
- Daily Camera: Water conservation and equity experts discuss flood mitigation, water scarcity
- Pagosa Daily Post: Upper Colorado River ‘Re-launches’ the System Conservation Program
- Grand Junction Sentinel: Water managers set criteria for conservation program participation