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Topic: Colorado River

Overview April 24, 2014

Colorado River

Colorado RiverServing as the “lifeline of the Southwest,” and one of the most heavily regulated rivers in the world, the Colorado River provides water to 35 million people and more than 4 million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000 square miles.

From its headwaters northwest of Denver in the Rocky Mountains, the 1,450-mile long river and its tributaries pass through parts of seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico,  Nevada, Utah and Wyoming and is also used by the Republic of Mexico. Along the way, almost every drop of the Colorado River is allocated for use.

The Colorado River Basin is also home to a range of habitats and ecosystems from mountain to desert to ocean.

  • Read more
Aquafornia news June 30, 2025 Arizona Republic (Phoenix)

Officials destroy breeding ground for invasive fish in Colorado River

An invasion of smallmouth bass from the Great Lakes region is spreading to new areas of the Colorado River in Arizona. The bass have already thwarted efforts to save threatened native fish in the upper river basin, and wildlife officials are fighting to keep the same from happening below Lake Powell, even if it requires cranes, excavators and maybe one day, a giant metal curtain. Federal officials say they took a major step in fighting the bass invasion below the Glen Canyon Dam in June. The National Park Service and Bureau of Reclamation have cleared out a warm backwater in the river where bass and other invasive species used to spawn, eliminating a critical resource for the predatory fish that could wipe out one of the last holdouts for some of the Colorado River’s threatened and endangered fish. Every bass that spawned in the slough became a threat to native fish, experts say. Smallmouth bass eat native fish eggs and young. 

Other invasive species news:

  • Summit Daily (Colo.): Colorado Parks and Wildlife makes new invasive zebra mussel veliger discovery in Colorado River 
  • KREX (Grand Junction, Colo.): Zebra mussel veliger found in Colorado River near New Castle
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 26, 2025 University of Washington

News release: Strategic transactions of Colorado River rights could help conserve water and restore fish habitat

… Climate change has exacerbated shortages, with studies indicating that recent Colorado River flows are near their lowest in at least 2,000 years. That has had severe consequences for fish: Of the 49 fish species native to the Colorado River Basin, 44 are already threatened, endangered or extinct. … New research led by University of Washington water policy expert Philip Womble found that a market-based approach to managing water could provide more reliable supplies for farmers, communities and industry. The right market design and a little extra investment could also help threatened fish species. The study, published June 20 in Nature Sustainability, details a new system for leasing rights to water from the basin while reallocating some water to imperiled habitats. Among the paper’s most substantial findings, researchers estimate that strategically spending 8% more than under the cheapest water conservation program could nearly triple the ecological benefits.  

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Gunnison Country Times: Upper Gunnison drought plan nearly complete
  • National Park Service: Blog: A 2025 check-up for the Mancos River in Mesa Verde National Park
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 25, 2025 Business Insider

As drought deepens, big tech has put nearly half of its data centers in water-scarce regions

The Colorado River runs over 1,450 miles through seven US states, carving dramatic canyons and providing drinking water for 40 million people before it crosses into Mexico. … Now, in some of the region’s driest stretches, tech companies are bringing a massive influx of water-guzzling data centers. … Documents reviewed by Business Insider show that some of these large data centers, football-field-size warehouses filled with computer servers that power the artificial intelligence revolution, could each demand millions of gallons of water a day, enough for tens of thousands of Americans. Business Insider found that 40% of the nation’s planned and existing data centers are in areas that the nonprofit World Resources Institute, which focuses on sustainability research, has characterized as experiencing “extremely high” or “high” water scarcity. … We found 24 of the largest centers, and 379 smaller ones, in the four states now negotiating over Colorado River allotments. 

Other data center water use news:

  • Data Center Dynamics: Blog: Controlling water usage remains one of the biggest questions for data centers
  • Wolters Kluwer: Blog: Energy demands will be a growing concern for AI technology
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 25, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Front Range requests state hearing over Western Slope water deal

Four major Front Range water managers have requested a state hearing to fully air their objections to a Western Slope plan to purchase historic, coveted Colorado River water rights. The Colorado River Water Conservation District, which represents 15 Western Slope counties, is leading the effort to purchase the $99 million water rights tied to the century-old Shoshone Power Plant, owned by a subsidiary of Xcel Energy. The district wants to buy the rights to protect historical water resources for Western Slope communities long into the future. Front Range water managers — Aurora Water, Denver Water, Colorado Springs Utilities and Northern Water — also want to maintain the historical flows past Shoshone which provides stability for their water supplies. They just disagree over the numbers, namely how much water is included in the deal. If the number is too high, it could throw a wrench in their water systems.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KUNC (Greeley, Colo.): A deadline looms for a new Colorado River plan. What happens if there isn’t one?
  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Despite good snowpack, only 54% of average runoff made it into Lake Powell
  • The Durango Herald (Colo.): Spring rains spared Southwest Colorado farmers from ‘disaster year’
  • Bureau of Reclamation: News release: Reclamation makes significant progress on key infrastructure on the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 24, 2025 KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)

‘A glimmer of hope’ emerges from long-stuck Colorado River negotiations

There’s a break in the clouds that have hovered over Colorado River negotiations for more than a year. State water leaders appear to be coalescing behind a new proposal for sharing the river after talks were stuck in a deadlock for more than a year. The river is used by nearly 40 million people across seven states and Mexico, but it’s shrinking due to climate change. As a result, state leaders need to rein in demand. For months, they were mired in a standoff about how to interpret a century-old legal agreement. The new proposal is completely different. Instead of those states leaning on old rules that don’t account for climate change, they’re proposing a new system that divides the river based on how much water is in it today. … The new plan says the amount should be based on a three-year rolling average of the “natural flows” in the river — basically, how much water would flow through it if human dams and diversion weren’t in the way.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Can Arizona come together to share Colorado River cuts? Talks have begun
  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Poll finds Arizonans deeply concerned about water, want government to do more
  • Colorado Public Radio: While drought hits the Western Slope, southeastern Colorado looks okay — for now
  • Sky-Hi News (Granby, Colo.): Colorado whitewater rafting companies report steady flow of customers, splashy start to the season despite low snowpack levels
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 23, 2025 E&E News by Politico

Senate approves package of park, water and forest bills

The Senate on Wednesday approved a package of bills from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, including legislation to shore up Colorado River water supplies and to expand a national park. Both Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski praised the bipartisan package. “I am hopeful that the Senate can pass more of these similar, very noncontroversial bills through the unanimous consent process,” Murkowski said on the Senate floor. … The measures include S. 154, the “Colorado River Basin System Conservation Extension Act,” from Colorado Democratic Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet. That bill would renew a $125 million effort to reduce water use in the Upper Basin of the Colorado River. That region covers parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Arizona Daily Star (Tucson): Both big Colorado River reservoirs face possible crises in electricity production
  • The Desert Review (Brawley, Calif.): California water agencies extend funding for Colorado River Board
  • Arizona Daily Star (Tucson): Arizona water chief: Colorado River water releases should be based on reality
  • The Hill: Colorado River ‘water market’ could bring security to farmers, fish and families: Study
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 23, 2025 Alta

Essay: A hidden vista in California’s Owens Valley

… What could have been more California than dipping my paddle into the waters being fought over by multiple states, Indigenous tribes, farmers, ranchers, conservation groups, and so on? We are, after all, on the verge of yet another new chapter flowing out of the Colorado River, whose silty waves, east beyond Death Valley, undulate California’s southeast border and which, in the fullness of thirst, became L.A.’s main water source. Parsing those waters has been bogged down for years, seemingly because California has been hogging more than its realistic share—even the mighty Colorado has shrunk, first from an overly optimistic estimation of its volume and now from drought. Welcome to the New West. T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” springs to mind:

Here is no water but only rock
Rock and no water and the sandy road

Other essays on California water:

  • Manteca Bulletin (Calif.): Editorial: The power of water in both its liquid & frozen form has carved California​
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 20, 2025 WyoFile (Lander, Wyo.)

New federal estimates could open more of southwest Wyoming to oil and gas

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s effort to remove barriers to energy development within the 3.6 million-acre Rock Springs Resource Management Plan area (which replaced Green River RMP in 2024) will include revised estimates of oil and natural gas reserves, according to the agency. … Initial “low” estimates, which may change dramatically based on new calculations, will potentially be used to reduce restrictions on oil and natural gas development imposed under “area of critical environmental concern” designations in the Rock Springs RMP updated in December. That plan will likely change after a review spurred by President Donald Trump’s Unleashing American Energy executive order, and Interior orders under his administration. The U.S. Geological Survey — the BLM’s sister agency under the Interior Department — released a report Wednesday revising estimates of “undiscovered, technically recoverable” oil and natural gas reserves underlying onshore federal lands, boasting “significant increases.”

Related articles: 

  • Inside Climate News: USGS touts potential oil and gas resources beneath public lands in updated survey
  • E&E News by Politico: USGS boosts oil and gas estimate for public lands
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 20, 2025 The Water Desk (University of Colorado Boulder)

Q&A: Snow droughts imperil the American West’s water supply

In recent years, scientists and water managers have started using the term “snow drought” to describe meager snowpacks in the American West. … Because a lack of snow has such profound implications for the West’s water supply, wildfire risk, recreational activities and ecosystem health, the federal government now regularly tracks the severity of snow drought across the region. The reports rely on data from hundreds of SNOTEL stations—a network of automated sensors that use “snow pillows” to weigh the snowpack and calculate its water content—but federal budget cuts may hamper that system going forward.  To learn more about snow droughts, I recently spoke with one of the authors of those reports: Dan McEvoy, regional climatologist at the Western Regional Climate Center and the Desert Research Institute.

Other snowmelt and runoff news around the West:

  • Weather West: Blog: A chillier and windier solstice with increased lower elevation fire risk; All signs still point to more widespread and anomalous heat later in summer
  • Havasu News: The Great Outdoors: Below average snowpack and more heat spell trouble for Lake Mead
  • KPCW (Park City, Utah): Podcast: Snowmelt’s journey from mountains to groundwater
  • Aspen Journalism (Colo.): Real time local streamflow
  • North Forty News: Northern Colorado pilot uses the sky to shine a light on water and wildfire challenges
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 20, 2025 FOX15 (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Friday Top of the Scroll: An ‘amicable divorce’ proposed in Colorado River negotiations

New information is emerging about what’s being negotiated between the seven states who rely on the Colorado River: an “amicable divorce” between the Upper and Lower Basins. At a meeting of a council made up of farmers, ranchers and other Colorado River water users here, the head of the Colorado River Authority of Utah disclosed some of what was being negotiated. …  It’s basically a separation between the Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico and the Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and California. … Lake Powell would basically be maintained at a certain level to keep both basins happy, (Colorado River Authority of Utah Executive Director Amy) Haas clarified to FOX 13 News. She would not disclose specific percentages as each side and the federal government is doing their own modeling. The Lower Basin states also have pledged to reduce their share by 1.5 million acre feet, she said.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Why this Arizona water expert says Ted Cooke is a great choice to lead the Bureau of Reclamation
  • Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability: Blog: Colorado River water market could help fish and farmers alike
  • The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, Colo.): Hopes for Shoshone water rights project buoyed by Orchard Mesa Irrigation federal funds agreement
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 19, 2025 Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff)

The home of Grand Canyon science in Flagstaff possibly at risk as results of cuts

A Flagstaff-based hub for regional science — and for the protection of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River — could be under threat from President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to the federal budget. In a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee last month, Trump’s budget director, Russell T. Vought, laid out the president’s fiscal priorities — mostly, a long list of cuts to virtually all federal agencies. Among those was a recommendation to slash $564 million from the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). And in a more detailed appendix, the Office of Management and Budget proposed reducing the budget of the agency’s Ecosystems Mission Area by approximately 90%. … Among the programs funded by the Ecosystems Mission Area are the Southwest Biological Science Center and its subsidiary, the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) — both housed here in Flagstaff. 

Other water and climate research news:

  • KJZZ (Phoenix): Trump proposal would almost completely cut funds for Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center
  • The Hill: Trump cuts to NOAA, NASA ‘blinding’ farmers to risks, scientists warn
  • E&E News by Politico: NOAA’s climate information portal to go silent
  • NOAA: News release: Can NOAA predict the next flood? New research shows promise
  • Nature Water: Review article: Advancing sustainable water use across the agricultural life cycle in the USA
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 19, 2025 Arizona Republic (Phoenix)

As the Colorado River shrinks, water negotiators debate new compromise

Negotiators for the seven states arguing over diminished Colorado River water are discussing an option they hope will end their deadlock, one that Arizona officials say would focus less on who gets what and more on what the river can realistically provide. They’re calling it the “supply-driven” solution, Arizona Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said, and it links the required water deliveries out of Glen Canyon Dam to what might naturally be flowing downstream at Lees Ferry if the dam weren’t there. The Rocky Mountain states upstream from there would have to let that amount pass, and the Southwestern states would have to live within its limits. It’s intended as a fair way of adapting — and shrinking — the region’s use of a river whose flow was once thought to exceed 15 million acre-feet of water a year but, in the last 25 years, has averaged 12.4 million.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KAWC (Yuma, Ariz.): Gov. Hobbs emphasizes Arizona leadership on Colorado River agreement​
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): As Colorado River talks continue, Trump taps former CAP boss to lead Reclamation Bureau​
  • John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: The Colorado River “psst psst” scheme emerges into public view: the “Supply Driven” concept
  • Bureau of Reclamation: News release: Reclamation completes recoating of outlet tubes at Glen Canyon Dam ahead of schedule
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 19, 2025 Politico

Trump admin eyes Mojave Desert groundwater as potential source for arid Arizona

… After trying and failing for more than two decades to pump ancient groundwater from beneath the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California water districts, the controversial company (Cadiz) has set its sights on new customers over the border in the Grand Canyon State. … On Monday, the Interior Department announced plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with the latest incarnation of the project, called the Mojave Groundwater Bank, touting it as “an important tool to improve drought resiliency in the Colorado River Basin” though recognizing that it is only in “early development.” And on Tuesday, the Trump administration official leading Colorado River negotiations for the federal government suggested to water power players in Arizona that they consider the project. … Opponents of the project, including conservation groups who say it could harm sensitive desert ecosystems, still see it as the same old concept.

Other desert water news:

  • Los Angeles Times: Efforts to reduce dust from dry Owens Lake bed are helping, report finds
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 17, 2025 KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Trump pushes ‘America First’ in Mexico water deal. Experts worry it may backfire

… Trump has found a perhaps obvious avenue to pursue his goal to ensure the United States is getting a fair shake on the world stage. But some experts fear bringing tariff threats and “America First” rhetoric into the world of water negotiations will backfire, and that the careful work of administering the 1944 water treaty could get damaged in the process. … The treaty is a complex document, but it requires the United States to deliver water from the Colorado River to Mexico, and Mexico to deliver water from the Rio Grande to the United States. … After Trump threatened tariffs in April, Mexico’s president did announce an additional water shipment to Texas from Mexico’s reservoirs on the Rio Grande. But experts say there just isn’t enough water available for Mexico to get back on track by October. … Many of northern Mexico’s reservoirs are low or empty, and in some places, a lack of rain means rivers run dry.

Other water treaty news:

  • The Packer: While Mexico promised more water under the 1944 treaty, U.S. growers say they need more water certainty, for Chihuahua to play by the rules, and treaty enforcement
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 17, 2025 KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Arizona elections and Colorado River negotiations will collide in 2026

2026 is shaping up to be a key year for the Colorado River and the seven basin states that rely on its water. Those states hope to wrap up negotiations on how to use less of the overallocated river’s water by the end of this year — that means Arizona lawmakers and the governor would have next year to approve the deal. Joanna Allhands, digital opinions editor for The Arizona Republic, has written about this and joined The Show, along with editorial page editor Elvia Díaz, to discuss. … “If it plays out like what groundwater negotiations have done so far, that just means no one compromises, everything falls apart, we don’t get anywhere. And then that could be really disastrous for us, specifically because Arizona is the only Colorado River basin state that is required to have legislative approval for whatever deal comes our way,” (says Joanna Allhands). 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Bureau of Reclamation: News release: Reclamation explores partnerships to develop new water sources in the Lower Colorado River Basin
  • Sky-Hi News (Granby, Colo.): Sections of Fraser, Colorado rivers under voluntary afternoon fishing closure due to warm water
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 17, 2025 The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)

A battle is brewing in the American West: A thirst for cheap power on one side and a prehistoric fish on the other

… The Colorado River system rushes through turbines inside Glen Canyon Dam on Lake Powell, producing affordable, carbon-free hydropower. … Climate change and chronic water overuse continue to constrict the mighty river’s flows, though, jeopardizing the dam’s ability to produce hydroelectric power. The lack of water has also created a slew of environmental problems in the Grand Canyon’s ecosystem, which sprawls below Glen Canyon Dam — most notably for an ancient, threatened fish species, the humpback chub, which is hunted by invasive smallmouth bass. Under Biden last year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation finalized a decision that allows the dam to periodically release surges of water that bypass the machinery that generates power. These flows cool the river below the dam, which curbs smallmouth bass reproduction. Utah Republicans and power providers say that decision has only further threatened the valuable energy source — and they hope to undo it.

Other endangered and threatened species news:

  • E&E News by Politico: Feds say the Gila chub should lose its ESA protections
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 16, 2025 KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Monday Top of the Scroll: Arizona could get a better deal in Colorado River water negotiations under Trump, experts say

… Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said at a recent roundtable that under the Trump administration, the state could be better positioned than it was under the Biden administration. … Under the Biden administration, the Lower Basin states sent a proposal to the federal government offering to take 1.5 million acre-feet of water cuts per year. Arizona would cut the most, at 750,000 acre-feet. The Biden government rejected the Lower Basin’s proposal and issued an “alternative report” on Jan. 17, almost the last day of the administration. … Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen went on to say he also wants the federal government to tie in expensive infrastructure projects to the negotiations, and not just river-related infrastructure, but maybe even a desalination plant in California. Petersen said if Arizona were to help pay for that, then Arizona could take some of California’s Colorado River allocation.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • The Colorado Sun (Denver): Meet the controversial activist (Gary Wockner) who has shaken Colorado’s water world and made 2025 a banner year for its rivers
  • Live Science: Groundwater in the Colorado River basin won’t run out — but eventually we won’t be able to get at it, scientists warn​
  • CBS Colorado: Northern Colorado water district to tap aquifer 800 feet underground, securing drinking water for expected growth
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 13, 2025 AP News

Arizona farm raising fish prompts water use questions

In the desert of landlocked Arizona, where the Colorado River crisis has put water use under a microscope, Mainstream Aquaculture has a fish farm where it’s growing the tropical species barramundi, also known as Asian sea bass, for American restaurants. … But some experts question whether growing fish on a large scale in an arid region can work without high environmental costs. That question comes down to what people collectively decide is a good use of water. … The farm uses groundwater, not Colorado River water. … Arizona has seven areas around the state where groundwater is rigorously managed. Dateland doesn’t fall into one of those, so the only rule that really governs it is a law saying if you land own there, you can pump a “reasonable” amount of groundwater. … What might be considered “reasonable” depends from crop to crop, and there’s really no precedent for aquaculture, an industry that hasn’t yet spread commercially statewide.

Other water use and conservation news:

  • The Business Journals: Country clubs face a water challenge as their fortunes rise​
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): It’s a thirsty world for Arizona wildlife. How a state agency keeps water basins full
  • Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah): Opinion: The wisdom for water in the West
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 12, 2025 CBS Colorado

Uranium discovered in Colorado’s Chimney Hollow Dam, the largest built in United States in 20 years

Just weeks before completion of construction, Northern Water has confirmed uranium has been discovered at the site of the Chimney Hollow Reservoir and Dam. … Now near-complete, the Chimney Hollow Dam is the fourth largest dam in Colorado and the largest built in the United States since the year 2000. Northern Water is now working with the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor the levels of uranium being detected. … Northern Water currently plans to begin filling the reservoir in August. (Northern Water spokesperson Jeff) Stahla said the discovery of the uranium is not enough to derail the project. Citing the reservoir’s eventual capacity of hundreds of billions of gallons of water, Stahla said there is a possibility the initial fill of the reservoir will wash the uranium off the dam and dilute it. Eventually, as water cycles in and out of the reservoir, the concern of the uranium may not longer be an issue.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah): Curtis staffer among those trapped on Colorado River during official trip
  • Bureau of Reclamation: News release: Interior Department and Bureau of Reclamation announce new funding for water projects in Colorado​
  • Post Independent (Glenwood Springs, Colo.): Middle Colorado Watershed Council presents ideas on how to restore Rifle Creek
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news June 10, 2025 KSL (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Wasatch Front water managers concerned by new usage trends

Salt Lake County water managers say they’re concerned about new water trends as the region’s irrigation season has gotten off to a warmer and drier start. Water consumption in the Jordan Valley Conservancy District, which includes most of Salt Lake County, is up 15% from last year, which was up 12.5% from the previous year. … While Utah’s northern half experienced a normal snowpack this year, dry conditions prior to winter and an unproductive meteorological spring compromised the runoff efficiency. Utah’s meteorological spring — March 1 through May 31 — was the 11th warmest and 40th driest since 1895, according to National Centers for Environmental Information released on Monday. … Dry soil conditions before the snowpack also increased the probability that more snowpack water would go into recharging the groundwater supply, meaning less water that flows into the state’s reservoirs. … Over three-fourths of the state is now in at least moderate drought at the start of meteorological summer.

Other Utah water news:

  • FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah): These 4 keys help explain Utah’s current water situation
  • ABC4 (Salt Lake City, Utah): Washington County water officials urge residents to conserve water
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Aquafornia news June 9, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Monday Top of the Scroll: “The time for action is now” — Pressure mounts for negotiations over the Colorado River’s future

… The Colorado River Basin is in dire straits: The water supply for 40 million people has been dwindling, and climatologists say the climate future is bleak. State officials have spent months mired in thorny negotiations over things like how to split painful water cuts in the driest conditions — with scant progress to report publicly. … The final plan could determine everything from how key reservoirs store and release water to who takes cuts in dry years and how environments, like the Grand Canyon, will be impacted for years to come. It will impact water supplies for cities, like Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles, ecosystems, a multibillion-dollar agricultural industry, hydroelectric power and more.

Other Colorado River Basin negotiation news:

  • E&E News by Politico: Interior official — States must reach Colorado River deal or face federal action
  • KUNC (Greeley, Colo.): With Colorado River negotiators in a ‘conclave,’ other experts are on the outside looking in
  • Courthouse News Service: Settlements and stalemates: Tribal leaders steer the Colorado River conversation
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): A deal in sight? Colorado River talks are moving again, officials say
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): How will Arizona deal with Colorado River shortages? Cities need a ‘Plan B,’ expert says
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 9, 2025 NPR

Water scarcity has some cities turning to sewage as a solution

Water scarcity, population growth and climate change are on a collision course in the American West. That’s clear in cities like St. George, a desert community surrounded by stunning red rock cliffs and mesas in Utah’s southwest corner. The population is booming and climate change is making heat more intense and rain less reliable. But local leaders have a plan to stretch the area’s water supply by turning to its sewage — a solution that could help other drought-stricken cities, too. … Reusing water that would have otherwise flowed downstream to Lake Mead — the nation’s largest reservoir — is the centerpiece of the district’s long-term water plan. But it will come at a steep cost: over a billion dollars. … St. George’s quandary is a microcosm of the challenges cities face across the Western U.S. as overuse and drought strain the Colorado River and the basin’s seven states fight over how the river’s water gets distributed in the future.

Other water recycling news:

  • Indian Wells Groundwater Authority: News release: Recycling water is a good strategy, but can’t be the only strategy​
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Aquafornia news June 6, 2025 Bureau of Reclamation

News release: Reclamation awards Colorado River Indian Tribes $1.1M to assess existing infrastructure and potential modernization opportunities

The Bureau of Reclamation announced an investment of $1.1 million to the Colorado River Indian Tribes to assess the Colorado River Indian Irrigation Project. The funding will assist the tribe to review existing infrastructure and identify necessary maintenance. It will also be used to identify potential opportunities to install new equipment and utilize updated technology to modernize the project. “We appreciate the Colorado River Indian Tribe’s collaboration for many years on implementing its decreed water rights and the Water Resiliency Act,” said Acting Commissioner David Palumbo. “We look forward to utilizing this funding to further this partnership.” This assessment is intended to assist the Colorado River Indian Tribes as they evaluate a potential title transfer of the project in order to take direct ownership. This could allow for water leasing and other opportunities that could contribute to overall water savings in the Colorado River Basin. 

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Aquafornia news June 6, 2025 Inside Climate News

New Mexico bans release of treated oil and gas wastewater

After months of deliberation, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission on May 14 voted to prohibit any discharge of treated “produced water” from oil and gas extraction to ground and surface waters. Produced water flows back to the surface during fracking and conventional oil and gas drilling and contains chemicals used in the extraction process as well as numerous other hazardous compounds, including arsenic and benzene, both human carcinogens. New Mexico creates around two billion barrels—84 billion gallons—of this toxic wastewater each year. Cleaning through multi-stage filtration, desalination and other processes could allow for the reuse of produced water for irrigation and other commercial applications, saving precious water resources. But environmental advocates, scientists and the New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) have urged that proper regulations are not yet in place to make such reuse safe. 

Other New Mexico water news:

  • Source New Mexico (Santa Fe): Haaland: Trump cuts threaten New Mexico progress on climate 
  • Water Finance & Management: University of New Mexico gets $7 million grant from EPA (to train small water and wastewater systems)
  • Valencia County News Bulletin (Belen, N.M.): New Mexico Water hopes proposed increased fees will help expansion
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Aquafornia news June 6, 2025 E&E News by Politico

Friday Top of the Scroll: Interior needs to step up in Colorado River talks, critics say

Negotiations over a new operating plan for the Colorado River are being hobbled by the federal government’s failure to take a more aggressive role in the discussions, said current and former state and federal officials Thursday. The critiques came from a cadre of former water managers who took part in previous deals on the waterway under both Democratic and Republican administrations, speaking during the annual 45th Annual Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources at the University of Colorado. “The current process kind of feels like the conclave,” said Jim Lochhead, the former CEO of Denver Water and former executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, referring to the process of electing a new Catholic pope. “We’re waiting for the black smoke or the white smoke to come out of the seven-state negotiating meeting.”

Other Colorado River negotiation news:

  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): A warming, drying Colorado River increasingly vexes water negotiators
  • Courthouse News Service: Can learning from past policy save future users of the Colorado River?
  • John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: The Colorado River conclave
  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Why Colorado River water managers are skipping an annual meeting this week
  • Arizona Department of Water Resources: News release: ADWR director briefs UA Water Resources Research Center Conference on Colorado River Negotiations
  • National Audubon Society: Blog: Colorado River talks must continue as deadlines loom
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 5, 2025 Atmos

Blog: Decades after Glen Canyon Dam, Colorado River reclaims its path

… For eons, the Colorado River flowed through this canyon, its pounding rapids carving the landscape. In 1963, though, the government—determined to tame the river and feed the Southwest’s unrelenting appetite for water—built Glen Canyon Dam. Slowly, year by year, the giant reservoir it created backed upstream, drowning 18 rapids whole and transforming 186 miles of what had been a rushing river into a wide, still, man-made pool. After that, it was eerily quiet, the river current slackening as it submitted to the lake. But if you visit this place now, you’ll hear a rumble. And there, right in front of you, you’ll see it: white water flashing in the sun. A standing wave big enough to flip a boat. Water moving and moving fast. A rapid, drowned for 60 years, is emerging from the depths. To understand this story, we’ll need to time travel.

Other Colorado River news:

  • The Colorado Sun (Denver): Colorado River’s hidden, below-ground reservoir is quickly shrinking, researchers say
  • ABC15 (Phoenix, Ariz.): How the real London Bridge ended up in the Arizona desert
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 4, 2025 Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.)

Wyoming part of massive geothermal reserve that could power 10% of America

Wyoming may be home to the famous bubbling geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park, but that doesn’t mean the state is a hot spot for generating electricity using heat from inside the earth.  A new federal assessment identified Wyoming as part of a massive underground geothermal energy resource that could generate electricity equal to 10% of America’s current power supply, though state-specific research suggests only modest potential for Wyoming.  A May U.S. Geological Survey’s report on geothermal systems in the Great Basin found that the arid lands of Nevada and adjoining parts of California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and a sliver of Wyoming’s western border with Idaho contain enough geothermal energy to generate 135 gigawatts of electricity from the upper 6 kilometers of the Earth’s crust. 

Related articles:

  • U.S. Geological Survey​: News release: Enhanced geothermal systems in the Great Basin could supply 10% of U.S. electricity demand
  • IFL Science: Over 10 percent of US electricity could be supplied by geothermal energy, says USGS
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 4, 2025 Utah News Dispatch

Federal dollars will go toward forest conservation in southern Utah

The federal government is awarding Utah $3 million to purchase conservation easements in southern Utah near Zion National Park. The funding — awarded to the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands by the U.S. Department of Agriculture — was announced Monday and will go toward ongoing forest preservation efforts outside of the national park. Called the Zion Connectivity Project, the state will direct the funding at two properties totalling 766 acres near the north section of the national park. A conservation easement — a legally binding agreement between a landowner and government that places restrictions on the land for environmental purposes — will prevent the land from being fragmented or developed. … The region contains a number of springs and streams, including the La Verkin Creek, which feeds into the Virgin River and eventually the Colorado River. The creek supports six native species of fish, like the Virgin River chub and Woundfin, both federally endangered. 

Other Utah public land news:

  • KSL (Salt Lake City, Utah): Zion National Park receives funding to help preserve land​
  • Utah News Dispatch: Public lands sale may return to ‘big, beautiful’ bill with Mike Lee amendment
  • FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah): Back on the block? Proposal to sell off southern Utah land may be revived
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 4, 2025 KUER (Salt Lake City, Utah)

For 68 years, a small dam kept fish trapped in Zion National Park. Now it’s gone

The spot where the Virgin River curves around the Temple of Sinawava used to be the end of the line for some of Zion National Park’s native fish. A dam was built here in 1957 to house a water line. The concrete structure was only a couple of feet high, but that was more than enough to trap fish downstream and cut them off from around 80 miles of river. … Now, fish can swim those miles as they please. After several years of planning, the park removed the dam this spring. Fish need to be able to travel freely throughout a river’s path for a variety of reasons, (park scientist Roby) Henderek said, and they require different types of habitat at different life stages. Baby fish prefer calm backwater sanctuaries. Adults have to swim upstream to lay eggs. Between cities and farms diverting water and climate change intensifying drought, native fish across the Colorado River Basin face a lot of challenges. 

Other fish restoration news:

  • Bureau of Reclamation: News release: Channelization project to help protect native fish in Grand Canyon completed
  • The Vacaville Reporter (Calif.): Reviving a forgotten native: Lagoon Valley’s thriving perch population may hold genetic clues to revive the species statewide
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 4, 2025 The Center Square

Above-average rainfall leaves Colorado’s Front Range drought-free

Colorado’s Front Range is mostly drought-free following an above-average rainfall during May, while the Western Slope continues to deal with persistent drought. The Denver area had 3.57 inches of rain last month, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, with 2.16 inches being the normal amount for May. … According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which was updated last Thursday, most of the Front Range is not experiencing drought, while parts of northeastern and southeastern Colorado are “abnormally dry” or in “moderate drought.” “The much bigger drought concerns right now are on the Western slope, where mountain snowpack was poor this winter, and the snow melted out earlier than usual,” (Colorado state climatologist Russ) Schumacher said. “Fortunately they will be getting some rain this week, but flows in the Colorado River system are expected to be much lower than average.”

Other Colorado drought and streamflow news:

  • Vail Daily (Colo.): Summer streamflows in Colorado are expected to peak lower than average after a warm, dry start to the water year
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 3, 2025 AZ Big Media (Phoenix)

Record summer heat is expected as Lake Powell’s forecast worsens

Monitors observing Lake Powell’s water levels are issuing a dire warning: The second largest reservoir in the country, and one of the most popular destinations for Arizonans and Western tourists, will suffer yet another year of drought and accelerated decline. Hydrologists say this is the consequence of a lack of winter 2024 runoff, itself the product of an unseasonably dry cold season. Experts predict the winter melt, which is responsible for replenishing the endangered lake, will total just 55% of the annual average. … As the lake continues to shrink, surrounding states disagree on how to reduce their 40 million residents’ collective water use to stave off the reservoir’s total destruction. Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming legislators are sparing over which locales should decrease their residential, commercial, and agricultural intakes. 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Arizona Senate leader suggests making desalination a part of Colorado Rivers talks
  • ABC15 (Phoenix, Ariz.): ASU researcher warns: Without groundwater changes, few will be able to dig wells
  • Inside Climate News: Colorado River Basin aquifers are declining even more steeply than the river, new research shows
  • KESQ (Thousand Palms, Calif.): Groundwater in the Colorado River Basin is being depleted. What that means for the Coachella Valley
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 3, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Ruling doesn’t affect Eagle County’s legal arguments against Utah railroad

The U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Uinta Basin Railway proposal in Utah published Thursday was a consequential ruling when it comes to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, narrowing the scope of the legislation and giving federal agencies more room to conduct their own analysis with more limited interference from courts. But it did not approve the controversial 88-mile railroad that supporters argue will drive economic growth in rural Utah by connecting the Uinta Basin’s oil field with the national rail network. And the high court did not address the concerns of Eagle County, which sued to reverse the Surface Transportation Board’s 2021 approval of the railroad, arguing the agency did not adequately consider the risk to communities and the Colorado River with increased tanker traffic on riverside tracks. … The arguments before the Supreme Court centered on NEPA, not Eagle County’s concerns. 

Related articles:

  • KHOL (Jackson, Wyo.): Supreme Court sides with controversial Uinta Basin railway, limiting federal environmental review
  • Progressive Farmer: Supreme Court rules in favor of STB on new rail line in Utah
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Aquafornia news June 2, 2025 The Denver Post (Colo.)

Monday Top of the Scroll: Colorado River negotiators running out of time to make long-term plan

Concerningly low amounts of water are flowing from Rocky Mountain snowpack this spring, a summer of drought looms across swaths of the West, and the negotiators tasked with devising a sustainable long-term water plan for the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River are running out of time. Commissioners from the seven states in the Colorado River Basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, California and Nevada — must create a plan that will govern how those states divvy up the river’s water after the current guidelines expire at the end of 2026. As the river shrinks due to drought and climate change, the negotiators must decide who will take less water — and they need to do so in the next few months. … The negotiators, who met in Las Vegas this week, have repeatedly said they are committed to finding a consensus solution, but have not yet done so and have already blown past previous deadlines set by federal authorities more than a year ago.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Big Pivots: Blog: Sharing risk on the Colorado River
  • John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: Colorado River Basin Reservoir Storage: where do we stand?
  • Inside Climate News: Gila River tribes intend to float solar panels on a reservoir. Could the technology help the Colorado River?
  • The Aspen Times (Colo.): Aspen’s outdoor water waste can impact Roaring Fork River
  • Pilot & Today (Steamboat, Colo.): $5 million federal funding freeze threatens to sink city (Yampa River) restoration project
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news June 2, 2025 Vail Daily (Colo.)

Native trout species return to the new Colorado River Connectivity Channel near Granby

Native fish populations are returning more quickly than anticipated in the Colorado River Connectivity Channel near Granby. This news is according to the latest Colorado Parks and Wildlife electrofishing survey of the trout population along the newly constructed 1-mile river channel. In May, Parks and Wildlife biologists estimated that approximately 848 brown trout and 221 rainbow trout over 6 inches in length live within the channel.  The $33 million connectivity channel project sought to establish connectivity along the Colorado River after the construction of the 445-acre-foot Windy Gap Reservoir in 1985 disrupted flows in the region. The reservoir and dam — which were constructed to help divert water to two northern Front Range cities — impacted stream flows, caused sediment buildup and decimated fish populations. 

Other anadromous fish news:

  • Colorado Parks and Wildlife: News release: Colorado Parks and Wildlife sees positive signs of aquatic life in the Colorado River Connectivity Channel
  • Times Standard (Eureka, Calif.): Mad River Hatchery releases last steelhead trout
  • San Mateo Daily Journal (Calif.): Juvenile salmon released at the Pillar Point Harbor
  • KCRW (Santa Monica): Podcast: How steelhead trout in the Santa Monica Mountains were relocated after the Palisades Fire
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Aquafornia news May 30, 2025 Los Angeles Times

Meager snowpack and runoff compound Colorado River’s water crisis

Many of California’s reservoirs have filled nearly to capacity this year with runoff from the ample snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. But the situation is very different along the Colorado River, another vital water source for Southern California, where a very dry spring has shrunk the amount of runoff streaming into reservoirs. The latest forecast from the federal Colorado Basin River Forecast Center shows that the river’s flows into Lake Powell will probably be about 46% of average over the next three months. … The snowpack in the upper Colorado River Basin reached 89% of the median level on April 1, but the outlook worsened over the last two months because of persistent dryness, warm temperatures and dry soils in the mountains that have absorbed a portion of the runoff. … The water level of Lake Powell, on the Utah-Arizona border, sits at 33% of capacity. Downstream near Las Vegas, Lake Mead is 32% full.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • U.S. Department of the Interior: News release: Department of the Interior leads $50 million effort to strengthen sustainability in the Colorado River Basin
  • ​Maven’s Notebook: Blog: From crisis to collaboration: The past and future of Colorado River management
  • KUNC (Greeley, Colo.): When flows are low, river recreators seek out new allies and avoid making enemies
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news May 29, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Wastewater system failure in La Plata County (Colo.) raises E. coli levels

Some La Plata County residents are looking for alternate sources of drinking water after a wastewater treatment system malfunctioned, sending E. coli into the local waterways. The wastewater treatment system serves Pine Winds Mobile Home Park, where about 60 people live east of the La Plata River and west of Durango. Rivulets of water crisscrossed the community’s main road Monday, flooding its central leach field. The field typically helps treat wastewater before it enters the groundwater system or nearby creek that flows into the La Plata River. The leach field is failing, said Nicole Rowan, director of the water quality control division at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “There’s too much water in there, so it can’t slowly let the water flow through it to properly treat it,” Rowan said.

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Aquafornia news May 28, 2025 AP News

Arizona’s rural groundwater deal stalls as legislative session nears end

Arizona’s governor and the GOP-controlled Legislature are at odds over regulating groundwater pumping in the state’s rural areas — and time is running out. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs stood with local Republican leaders at the start of this year’s session, optimistic that Republicans in the Legislature would embrace her proposal to create rural groundwater management areas. But almost four months later, talks have stalled and frustration has mounted as both sides try to find a solution to conserve water that’s increasingly becoming more scarce amid a prolonged drought. Negotiators have not met since early April, Hobbs’ office said. Around the same time, Republicans and some interest groups grew frustrated with a separate proposal by the Arizona Department of Water Resources to slash overdraft in the Willcox Basin by a percentage that is “unattainable,” said Sen. Tim Dunn, one of the Republican negotiators.

Other Arizona water news:

  • Herald/Review Media (Phoenix, Ariz.): Arizona Farm and Ranch Group fighting AG Mayes over Saudi alfalfa lawsuit
  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Mayes sued to stop Fondomonte pumping groundwater. How might that affect Arizona farmers?
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Aquafornia news May 28, 2025 The Guardian (London, U.K.)

Colorado River basin has lost nearly the equivalent of an underground Lake Mead

The Colorado River basin has lost 27.8m acre-feet of groundwater in the past 20 years, an amount of water nearly equivalent to the full capacity of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, a new study has found. The research findings, based on Nasa satellite imagery from across the south-west, highlight the scale of the ongoing water crisis in the region, as both groundwater and surface water are being severely depleted. … With less visibility has come less regulation: California only instituted statewide management of its groundwater in 2014, and before that, groundwater use was largely unregulated. Arizona, which has seen big groundwater decreases, still does not regulate groundwater usage in the majority of the state. … Since 2015, the basin has been losing freshwater at a rate three times faster than in the decade before, driven mostly by groundwater depletion in Arizona.

Related articles:

  • E&E News by Politico: Groundwater drying up in Colorado River Basin, study finds
  • The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson): Study: Groundwater loss across Colorado River Basin threatens economic security
  • The Washington Post: The Colorado River is running low. The picture looks even worse underground, study says.
  • The Hill: Groundwater supplies are plunging across the Colorado River Basin: Study
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 28, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Southern Ute member leads Colorado water board in historic first

The Colorado Water Conservation Board, one of Colorado’s top water policy agencies, has a new leader: Southern Ute tribal member Lorelei Cloud. The 15-member board sets water policy within the state, funds water projects statewide and works on issues related to watershed protection, stream restoration, flood mitigation and drought planning. On May 21, board members elected Cloud to serve a one-year term as chair, making her the first Indigenous person to hold the position since the board was formed in 1937. Cloud said her new role gives Indigenous people a long-sought seat at the table where water decisions are made. … Part of the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s purpose is to protect Colorado’s water interests in dealings with other states, like the water sharing agreements among seven states in the Colorado River Basin. … She represents the San Miguel-Dolores-San Juan basin in southwestern Colorado, which is part of the larger Colorado River Basin, a key water source for about 40 million people across the West.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • WAMU (Washington, D.C.): The Colorado River’s water-sharing treaty is expiring next year. How close is a new deal?
  • Salt Lake Magazine (Salt Lake City, Utah): Water woes: The future of the Colorado River
  • Post Independent (Glenwood Springs, Colo.): Low snowpack stirs 2018 fire season flashbacks, but wet monsoon season may offer hope
  • NPR: Snowflakes, death threats and dollar signs: Cloud seeding is at a crossroads
  • Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.): Opinion: Is cloud seeding harming wildlife & water? Time to ask hard questions
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 27, 2025 Los Angeles Times

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Groundwater is rapidly declining in the Colorado River Basin, satellite data show

As the Colorado River’s giant reservoirs have declined during the last two decades, even larger amounts of water have been pumped and drained from underground, according to new research based on data from NASA satellites. Scientists at Arizona State University examined more than two decades of satellite measurements and found that since 2003 the quantity of groundwater depleted in the Colorado River Basin is comparable to the total capacity of Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir. The researchers estimated that pumping from wells has drained about 34 cubic kilometers, or 28 million acre-feet, of groundwater in the watershed since 2003 — more than twice the amount of water that has been depleted from the river’s reservoirs during that time.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Eric Kuhn and John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: The May USBR Colorado River 24-month study confirms what we feared
  • Arizona Daily Star (Tucson): Ariz. water chief upbeat about Colorado River negotiations
  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Instead of cuts, federal officials are extending agreements to conserve Colorado River water
  • Colorado Public Radio: Drought conditions likely to get worse in Colorado as Western water supplies shrink
  • The Desert Review (Brawley, Calif.): IID approves 2025 Deficit Irrigation Program to bolster Colorado River conservation efforts
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 23, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Front Range (Colo.) cities object to $99M Colorado River water deal

Denver, Aurora, Colorado Springs and Northern Water voiced opposition Wednesday to the Western Slope’s proposal to spend $99 million to buy historic water rights on the Colorado River from Xcel Energy. The Colorado River Water Conservation District has been working for years to buy the water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant, a small, easy-to-miss hydropower plant off Interstate 70 east of Glenwood Springs. The highly coveted water rights are some of the largest and oldest on the Colorado River in Colorado. The Front Range providers are concerned that any change to the water rights could impact water supplies for millions of city residents, farmers, industrial users and more. … The proposed purchase taps into a decades-old water conflict in Colorado: Most of the state’s water flows west of the Continental Divide; most of the population lives to the east; and water users are left to battle over how to share it.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Aspen Public Radio: On the ground: A nonprofit spotlight on the Middle Colorado Watershed Council
  • Reasons To Be Cheerful: ‘We are the people of the river’: The Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe is working to heal the ailing Colorado River ecosystem by planting one native seed at a time
  • The Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Experts: Arizona and other states need to stop fighting over water and do something now
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Aquafornia news May 21, 2025 Aspen Public Radio (Colo.)

Colorado River water users want to collaborate on conservation — but they need updated infrastructure to make it happen

… Throughout the West, pretty much every last drop of Colorado River is used and accounted for. The majority of Colorado’s allotment of the river is used for agriculture. Human-caused climate change is stretching the river even thinner, and drought persists. That means that the people who rely on the river have to get creative when it comes to conservation, especially in Colorado, where the river begins. … It’s all part of Colorado’s complex water law system, which states that water released from reservoirs must be put to a “beneficial use.” That usually means using it for things like irrigation or industry. The environment, and even fish, historically haven’t counted. But there’s a workaround: hydropower. It keeps the water in the river, and under state law, it qualifies as beneficial. 

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2025 Public News Service

Congress considers the sale of public lands in Utah, conservationists raise concerns

Hunters and anglers are voicing concerns about the possible sale of hundreds of thousands of acres of public land in Utah and Nevada. U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-UT, and U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-NV, have introduced a last-minute provision to a federal budget reconciliation package which would allow public lands in both states to be sold to local governments or private buyers. Supporters say it would help address the housing shortage, improve public infrastructure, and it would allow industries to expand their presence. But Devin O’Dea, Western Policy & Conservation Manager with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said the decision sets a negative precedent. … Maloy says her amendment is a small provision in what has been termed Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” She added that, unlike Nevada, lands in Utah would be used to build needed water projects and infrastructure as the state’s population grows.

Other public land news:

  • KOLO (Reno, Nev.): (Nev. Rep. Dina) Titus introduces amendment to GOP budget to prevent Nevada land sale
  • E&E News by Politico: (Mont. Rep. Ryan) Zinke pushes to strip land sales ahead of committee vote
  • Post Independent (Glenwood Springs, Colo.): Colorado’s Bennet and Hickenlooper reintroduce sweeping public lands protection bill with Republican support
  • Axios: Blog: Proposed federal land sale stokes concerns over Utah water pipeline
  • The Land Desk: Blog: When “disposing” of public land isn’t the end of the world
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2025 National Integrated Drought Information System

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Special snow drought update: rapid snowmelt

Above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation continued to rapidly melt out western U.S. snowpack. Nearly all western basins are now in late season snow drought, despite many stations reaching near to above-average peak snow water equivalent (SWE) during the snow accumulation season. Some stations, including some in Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, saw record early melt out. The rapid depletion of snow, coupled with increased evaporative demand (the “thirst” of the atmosphere), can rapidly dry the landscape. Landscapes drying out earlier than normal can lead to an early start to the fire season. Snowmelt this time of year is common, but such rapid melt rates are not normal. In some instances, above-normal temperatures such as these can cause snow to sublimate (going from a solid to a gas) and reduce runoff into streams and reservoirs.

Other snowmelt and snow drought news:

  • Nevada Current: Lake Mead in for a painful summer after dry winter
  • The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah): Southern Utah is used to hot summers with little water. This year is shaping up to be especially bad.
  • The Aspen Times (Colo.): Low snowpack leading to an early — and very low — peak runoff for Roaring Fork River
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2025 KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.)

This ‘rainy day fund’ for the Colorado River incentivizes saving more water

Negotiations continue between the seven Colorado River basin states over new rules dealing with use of the overallocated river, and the clock is ticking. But one area of those talks that’s not getting a lot of attention is the idea of setting some water aside, and the details of how that might happen. Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, has been thinking and writing about this and joined The Show to discuss. … “The idea of sort of setting aside pools of water and holding them in Lakes Powell or Mead is not new. It’s actually something we’ve been doing since 2007, and it’s an attempt to sort of separate certain amounts of water from the prior appropriation system, which is the system through which we generally allocate water here in the arid West.”

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Native American Rights Fund: Report: Tribal interests in the future of the Colorado River
  • Havasu News (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.): 5 big questions Arizona leaders will tackle about the Colorado River at this week’s U of A conference
  • Aspen Journalism (Colo.): Plan to reopen irrigation ditch has creek’s neighbors on edge
  • Audubon: Blog: State investments for a resilient Arizona
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Western Water April 17, 2025 Matt Jenkins WESTERN WATER-Changes Loom for Innovative Lower Colorado River Endangered Species Program Amid Drought, New River Rules Colorado River Basin Map Matt Jenkins

Changes Loom for Innovative Lower Colorado River Endangered Species Program Amid Drought, New River Rules
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: As the 50-year Multi-Species Conservation Program hits the 20-year mark this month, new questions about how to keep it strong hang over its future

Image shows Endangered bonytail chub were released into a Colorado River lagoon near Laughlin, Nev., in spring of 2024 as part of the MSCP. Before the construction of Hoover Dam on the lower Colorado River, as well as a slew of smaller sisters downstream, the stretch downriver served as a biological oasis in the middle of the unrelenting Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The marshes and backwaters along the river’s edge provided sheltered areas for fish to spawn and rear their young, and mesquite and cottonwood-willow forests provided important habitat for numerous species of birds and other animals.

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Western Water February 13, 2025 WESTERN WATER: Golden Mussel, California’s Newest Delta Invader, Is Likely Here To Stay – And Spread Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map Spencer Fordin and Douglas E. Beeman

Golden Mussel, California’s Newest Delta Invader, Is Likely Here To Stay – And Spread
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Aquatic hitchhiker adds to burden of invasive mussels challenging water agencies across the West

Image shows golden mussels clustered on a buoy, found during a survey in November 2024 at O'Neill Forebay at the foot of San Luis Reservoir in Merced County. The mussels were also discovered for the first time in North America last fall in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and O'Neill Forebay. A new aquatic invader, the golden mussel, has penetrated California’s ecologically fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the West Coast’s largest tidal estuary and the hub of the state’s vast water export system. While state officials say they’re working to keep this latest invasive species in check, they concede it may be a nearly impossible task: The golden mussel is in the Golden State to stay – and it is likely to spread.

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Announcement November 14, 2024

Colorado River Water Leaders Release Recommendations for Augmentation Projects

The 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders cohort completed its seven-month program with policy recommendations involving ”augmentation” – projects that increase the availability and supply of water – as the Colorado River Basin grows hotter and drier.

The cohort of 12 up-and-coming leaders included engineers, lawyers, resource specialists and others working for public, private and non-governmental organizations from across the river’s basin. The cohort had full editorial control to choose its recommendations.

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Aquafornia news April 30, 2024 Courthouse News Service

California water managers advise multipronged approach in face of climate change

State water management officials must work more closely with local agencies to properly prepare California for the effects of climate change, water scientists say. Golden State officials said in the newly revised California Water Plan that as the nation’s most populous state, California is too diverse and complex for a singular approach to manage a vast water network. On Monday, they recommended expanding the work to better manage the state’s precious water resources — including building better partnerships with communities most at risk during extreme drought and floods and improving critical infrastructure for water storage, treatment and distribution among different regions and watersheds.

Related climate change articles: 

  • Washington Post: Southern U.S. has faced twice the global sea level rise rate since 2010
  • Engineering News-Record: World Cup, olympics, climate change drive California infrastructure efforts
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Aquafornia news April 30, 2024 Colorado Sun

Upper Basin tribes gain permanent foothold in Colorado River talks

Six tribes in the Upper Colorado River Basin, including two in Colorado, have gained long-awaited access to discussions about the basin’s water issues — talks that were formerly limited to states and the federal government. Under an agreement finalized this month, the tribes will meet every two months to discuss Colorado River issues with an interstate water policy commission, the Upper Colorado River Commission, or UCRC. It’s the first time in the commission’s 76-year history that tribes have been formally included, and the timing is key as negotiations about the river’s future intensify. … Most immediately, the commission wants a key number: How much water goes unused by tribes and flows down to the Lower Basin?

Related tribal water articles: 

  • Upper Colorado River Commission: News release - Upper Basin tribes sign historic memorandum of understanding with Upper Division states
  • Parker Pioneer: CRIT signs historic water rights agreement with Secretary Haaland, Gov. Hobbs
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Aquafornia news April 10, 2024 Stanford Report

Addressing the Colorado River crisis

Sustaining the American Southwest is the Colorado River. But demand, damming, diversion, and drought are draining this vital water resource at alarming rates. The future of water in the region – particularly from the Colorado River – was top of mind at the 10th Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference, an event organized by the Bill Lane Center for the American West that brings together policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to discuss solutions to urgent problems facing rural Western regions.

Related articles: 

  • Summit Daily: Colorado River district seeks Summit County’s help in clinching $99 million Western Slope water rights deal
  • Fronteras: The Colorado River loses more than 19M acre-feet of water annually, but where does it go?
  • Aspen Daily News: A classic comeback for Old Man Winter
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Tour March 12, 2025 - 7:30am - March 14, 2025 - 6:30pm Become a Tour Sponsor! Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2025
Field Trip - March 12-14

Tour participants gathered for a group photo in front of Hoover DamThis tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

Check out this highlight video of one of our recent tours!

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
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Publication March 4, 2024 Colorado River Basin Map

Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Basin
Updated 2024

Cover of Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin

Learn the history and challenges facing the West’s most dramatic and developed river. 

The Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Basin introduces the 1,450-mile river that sustains 40 million people and millions of acres of farmland spanning seven states and parts of northern Mexico.

The 28-page primer explains how the river’s water is shared and managed as the Southwest transitions to a hotter and drier climate.

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Aquafornia news February 9, 2024 The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah looks to other states for more water under new bill

A much-anticipated water bill brought by one of the most powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill became public Thursday. Senate President Stuart Adams’s SB 211, titled “Generational Water Infrastructure Amendments,” seeks to secure a water supply for decades to come. It forms a new council comprised of leadership from the state’s biggest water districts that will figure out Utah’s water needs for the next 50 to 75 years. It also creates a new governor-appointed “Utah Water Agent” with a $1 million annual budget that will “coordinate with the council to ensure Utah’s generational water needs are met,” according to a news release. But combing through the text of the bill reveals the water agent’s main job will be finding an out-of-state water supply. … The bill also notes the water agent won’t meddle with existing water compacts with other states on the Bear and Colorado rivers.

Related article: 

  • The Associated Press: In rural Utah, concern over efforts to use Colorado River water to extract lithium
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Aquafornia news February 6, 2024 The Salt Lake Tribune

Opinion: Moab unites to fight a floodplain development

Moab is a growing town of 5,300 that up to 5 million people visit each year to hike nearby Arches and Canyonlands national parks, ride mountain bikes and all-terrain vehicles, or raft the Colorado River. Like any western resort town, it desperately needs affordable housing. What locals say it doesn’t need is a high-end development on a sandbar projecting into the Colorado River, where groves of cottonwoods, willows and hackberries flourish. “Delusional,” shameful” or “outrageous” is what many locals call this Kane Creek Preservation and Development project.
- Written by Mary Moran, a contributor to Writers on the Range

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Aquafornia news February 6, 2024 KLAS - Las Vegas

Atmospheric rivers bring rain and snow, but will they feed the Colorado River?

The attention is on Southern California right now, but an atmospheric river’s path will extend inland with potential flooding — and possible drought relief. If you’re watching the weather, it’s still a little early to tell whether these storms will go where they can hope Las Vegas the most. That’s anywhere in the Upper Colorado River Basin, where there’s a chance they could produce snow to help the river that supplies 90% of the water used in Southern Nevada. … The paths of this year’s atmospheric rivers are unlike the ones that slammed the Sierras last year. Those storms carried snow straight east through Northern Nevada and Utah, feeding the Rocky Mountains with snowpack levels that reached 160% of normal by the end of winter. 

Related articles: 

  • Arizona Family: Atmospheric river brings flooding to Southern California; same storm to impact Arizona
  • 12 News – Phoenix: Rain, snow and colder temps are headed to Arizona this week
  • Newsweek: How Lake Mead water levels will change after atmospheric river
  • Aspen Journalism: Colorado Springs agrees to give up water rights for Summit County basin reservoirs
  • Coyote Gulch blog: Compared to 2023, the current water year might seem underwhelming — #Colorado Basin River Forecast Center #ColoradoRiver #CORiver #aridification​
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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 The Arizona Republic

Commentary: Water regulation in Arizona has now devolved into a game of chicken

Water regulation in Arizona has devolved into a game of chicken. The governor and farmers are rivals revving their engines, hoping their opponent will flinch first. Caught in the middle is Gila Bend, a groundwater basin south of Buckeye, where the state could decide to impose its most stringent form of regulation, whether folks like it or not. Both sides are using Gila Bend as a bargaining chip to win support for competing legislative proposals. But to what end?
- Written by Joanna Allhands, Arizona Republic digital opinions editor 

Related article: 

  • Las Vegas Sun: Federal agency releases Topock Marsh project info
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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 Aspen Journalism

Colorado Senate favors limiting nonfunctional turf

Colorado legislators in 2022 passed a bill that delivered $2 million to programs across the state for removal of turf in urban areas classified as nonfunctional. By that, legislators mean Kentucky bluegrass and other thirsty-grass species that were meant to be seen but rarely, if ever, otherwise used. Now, they are taking the next step. The Colorado Senate on Tuesday, Jan. 30 voted in favor of a bill, Senate Bill 24-005, that would prevent thirsty turf species from being planted in certain places that rarely, if ever, get foot traffic, except perhaps to be mowed.

Related articles: 

  • Pagosa Daily Post: Commentary: Colorado River Commissioner Rebecca Mitchell addresses 2026 river negotiations
  • The Denver Gazette: Nearly finalized New Blue River agreement to provide more water for Colorado Springs
  • Colorado Department of Water Resources: Press release - Water measurement rules now in effect for Yampa, White, Green and North Platte River basins 
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 JFleck at Inkstain

Blog: Senate hearing Thursday on tribal access to clean water: it takes more than just a pile of money

The U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee is holding an important hearing Thursday on S. 2385, a bill to refine the tools needed to help Tribal communities gain access to something that most non-Indian communities in the western United States have long taken for granted: federally subsidized systems to deliver safe, clean drinking water to our homes. … This is the sort of bill (there’s a companion on the House side) that makes a huge amount of sense, but could easily get sidetracked in the chaos of Congress. The ideal path is for the crucial vetting to happen in a process such as Thursday’s hearing, and then to attach it to one of those omnibus things that Congress uses these days to get non-controversial stuff done. Clean water for Native communities should pretty clearly be non-controversial.

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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 KUER - Salt Lake City

What if Utah isn’t the 2nd-driest state we all thought it was?

For as long as he can remember, Rob Sowby has heard people call Utah the second-driest state in the nation. Over the years, that claim has become nearly inescapable, echoed by everyone from state departments, city governments and water conservancy districts to national news outlets without a clear citation for what data it’s based on. … Now a Brigham Young University civil engineering assistant professor focused on sustainable water supplies, he decided to get to the bottom of it. Using precipitation data, he found that Utah is actually the nation’s third-driest state, behind Nevada and Arizona.

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Aquafornia news January 12, 2024 Mohave Valley Daily News

Reclamation releases Topock Marsh project timeline, addressing low water levels

The Topock Marsh has seen a significant drop in water levels recently, with dry patches visible and locals concerned about the effects on wildlife. The 4,000-acre Bureau of Reclamation marsh is adjacent to the Colorado River in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it serves as a recreation area and wildlife habitat for the Tri-state. 

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Announcement January 4, 2024

Apply by Jan. 22 for Our Colorado River Water Leaders Program
Get an overview and tips on applying

Apply for our 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders program to deepen your knowledge of the inconic Southwest river, build leadership skills and develop policy ideas with a cohort to improve management of the region’s most crucial natural resource.

Our biennial Water Leaders program, part of our Colorado River Project, selects rising stars from the seven states that rely on the river – Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

Get an overview of the program and tips on applying by watching this virtual Q&A session. Applications are due Jan. 22, 2024 and you can find application materials here along with mandatory program dates.

“I highly recommend the program to emerging water leaders. The program’s immersive experience, relationship building and mentorship opportunities cultivate leadership and collaborative skills crucial for addressing complex challenges faced by all those who rely upon the Colorado River now and into the future.”

– JB Hamby, Class of ‘22 and Chair of the Colorado River Board of California

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Western Water December 19, 2023 Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to Water Recycling Western Water News: Colorado River shortages drive major advances in recycled sewage water use By Nick Cahill

Colorado River Shortages Drive Major Advances in Recycled Sewage Water Use
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Phoenix, Southern California betting on purified sewage to fill drinking water needs

After more than two decades of drought, water utilities serving the largest urban regions in the arid Southwest are embracing a drought-proof source of drinking water long considered a supply of last resort: purified sewage.

Water supplies have tightened to the point that Phoenix and the water supplier for 19 million Southern California residents are racing to adopt an expensive technology called “direct potable reuse” or “advanced purification” to reduce their reliance on imported water from the dwindling Colorado River.

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Announcement December 6, 2023

Join Dec. 7 Virtual Q&A Session for 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders Cohort
Get a program overview and tips on applying by Jan. 22, 2024

Join a virtual Q&A session Dec. 7 to learn more about applying for our 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders cohort.

The biennial program, which will run from March to September next year, selects about a dozen rising stars from the seven states that rely on the river – California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.

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Western Water November 16, 2023 Colorado River Basin Map Western Water News: Tribes Gain Clout as Colorado River Shrinks - an In-Depth Look By Nick Cahill

Tribes Gain Clout as Colorado River Shrinks
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Tribes hold key state-appointed posts for first time as their water rises in value

A CAP canal in North PhoenixThe climate-driven shrinking of the Colorado River is expanding the influence of Native American tribes over how the river’s flows are divided among cities, farms and reservations across the Southwest.

The tribes are seeing the value of their largely unused river water entitlements rise as the Colorado dwindles, and they are gaining seats they’ve never had at the water bargaining table as government agencies try to redress a legacy of exclusion.

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Announcement November 15, 2023

Apply for Our Colorado River Water Leaders Program
Join Dec. 7 virtual Q&A session

The application window is now open for our Colorado River Water Leaders program, which will run from March to September next year.

Our biennial program, part of our Colorado River Project, is patterned after our highly successful California Water Leaders program and selects rising stars from the seven states that rely on the river - California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – to take part in a cohort.

During the seven-month program designed for working professionals, the cohort members explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest river, deepen their water knowledge and build leadership skills. 

“I highly recommend the program to emerging water leaders. The program’s immersive experience, relationship building and mentorship opportunities cultivate leadership and collaborative skills crucial for addressing complex challenges faced by all those who rely upon the Colorado River now and into the future.”

– JB Hamby, Class of ‘22 & Chair of the Colorado River Board of California

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Announcement July 19, 2023

Applications for 2024 Water Leader Programs Just Around the Corner
Apps available in fall for our California and Colorado River Basin water leader cohorts

It’s never too early to start thinking about applying for our preeminent water leadership programs.

The Water Education Foundation has run the William R. Gianelli Water Leaders class since 1997, and launched a similar biennial program for the Colorado River Basin in 2022.

Both programs will be accepting applications for the 2024 cohorts starting in the fall. 

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Western Water April 21, 2023 WESTERN WATER-Upper Colorado River States Add Muscle as Decisions Loom on the Shrinking River’s Future By Nick Cahill

Upper Colorado River States Add Muscle as Decisions Loom on the Shrinking River’s Future
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Upper Basin States Seek Added Leverage to Protect Their River Shares Amid Difficult Talks with California and the Lower Basin

The White River winds and meanders through a valley.The states of the Lower Colorado River Basin have traditionally played an oversized role in tapping the lifeline that supplies 40 million people in the West. California, Nevada and Arizona were quicker to build major canals and dams and negotiated a landmark deal that requires the Upper Basin to send predictable flows through the Grand Canyon, even during dry years.

But with the federal government threatening unprecedented water cuts amid decades of drought and declining reservoirs, the Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico are muscling up to protect their shares of an overallocated river whose average flows in the Upper Basin have already dropped 20 percent over the last century.

They have formed new agencies to better monitor their interests, moved influential Colorado River veterans into top negotiating posts and improved their relationships with Native American tribes that also hold substantial claims to the river.

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Tour March 13, 2024 - 7:30am - March 15, 2024 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2024
Field Trip - March 13-15

Tour participants gathered for a group photo in front of Hoover DamThis tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
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Tour September 12, 2023 - 7:00pm - September 15, 2023 - 5:30pm Nick Gray

Eastern Sierra Tour 2023
Field Trip - September 12-15

This special Foundation water tour journeyed along the Eastern Sierra from the Truckee River to Mono Lake, through the Owens Valley and into the Mojave Desert to explore a major source of water for Southern California, this year’s snowpack and challenges for towns, farms and the environment.

Grand Sierra Resort
2500 E 2nd St
Reno, NV 89595
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Western Water December 9, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept By Nick Cahill

As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Chorus of experts warn climate change has rendered old assumptions outdated about what the Colorado River can provide, leaving painful water cuts as the only way forward

Photo shows Hoover Dam’s intake towers protruding from the surface of Lake Mead near Las Vegas, where water levels have dropped to record lows amid a 22-year drought. When the Colorado River Compact was signed 100 years ago, the negotiators for seven Western states bet that the river they were dividing would have ample water to meet everyone’s needs – even those not seated around the table.

A century later, it’s clear the water they bet on is not there. More than two decades of drought, lake evaporation and overuse of water have nearly drained the river’s two anchor reservoirs, Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border and Lake Mead near Las Vegas. Climate change is rendering the basin drier, shrinking spring runoff that’s vital for river flows, farms, tribes and cities across the basin – and essential for refilling reservoirs.

The states that endorsed the Colorado River Compact in 1922 – and the tribes and nation of Mexico that were excluded from the table – are now straining to find, and perhaps more importantly accept, solutions on a river that may offer just half of the water that the Compact assumed would be available. And not only are solutions not coming easily, the relationships essential for compromise are getting more frayed.

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Western Water September 16, 2022 WESTERN WATER-A Colorado River Veteran Moves Upstream and Plunges into the Drought-Stressed River's Mounting Woes By Nick Cahill

A Colorado River Veteran Moves Upstream and Plunges into The Drought-Stressed River’s Mounting Woes
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Chuck Cullom, a longtime Arizona water manager, brings a dual-basin perspective as top staffer at the Upper Colorado River Commission

Chuck Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission. With 25 years of experience working on the Colorado River, Chuck Cullom is used to responding to myriad challenges that arise on the vital lifeline that seven states, more than two dozen tribes and the country of Mexico depend on for water. But this summer problems on the drought-stressed river are piling up at a dizzying pace: Reservoirs plummeting to record low levels, whether Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam can continue to release water and produce hydropower, unprecedented water cuts and predatory smallmouth bass threatening native fish species in the Grand Canyon. 

“Holy buckets, Batman!,” said Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission. “I mean, it’s just on and on and on.”

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Western Water July 7, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-A Colorado River Tribal Leader Seeks A Voice In the River's Future--And Freedom to Profit From Its Surplus Water By Nick Cahill

A Colorado River Tribal Leader Seeks A Voice In the River’s Future–And Freedom to Profit From Its Water
WESTERN WATER Q&A: CRIT Chair Amelia Flores Says Allowing Tribe to Lease Or Store Water Off Reservation Could Aid Broader Colorado River Drought Response and Fund Irrigation Repairs

Amelia Flores, chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.As water interests in the Colorado River Basin prepare to negotiate a new set of operating guidelines for the drought-stressed river, Amelia Flores wants her Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) to be involved in the discussion. And she wants CRIT seated at the negotiating table with something invaluable to offer on a river facing steep cuts in use: its surplus water.

CRIT, whose reservation lands in California and Arizona are bisected by the Colorado River, has some of the most senior water rights on the river. But a federal law enacted in the late 1700s, decades before any southwestern state was established, prevents most tribes from sending any of its water off its reservation. The restrictions mean CRIT, which holds the rights to nearly a quarter of the entire state of Arizona’s yearly allotment of river water, is missing out on financial gain and the chance to help its river partners.

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Western Water April 29, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-As Drought Shrinks the Colorado River, A SoCal Giant Seeks Help from River Partners to Fortify its Local Supply By Nick Cahill

As Drought Shrinks the Colorado River, A SoCal Giant Seeks Help from River Partners to Fortify its Local Supply
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Metropolitan Water District's wastewater recycling project draws support from Arizona and Nevada, which hope to gain a share of Metropolitan's river supply

Metropolitan Water District's advanced water treatment demonstration plant in Carson. Momentum is building for a unique interstate deal that aims to transform wastewater from Southern California homes and business into relief for the stressed Colorado River. The collaborative effort to add resiliency to a river suffering from overuse, drought and climate change is being shaped across state lines by some of the West’s largest water agencies.  

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Tour March 8, 2023 - 7:30am - March 10, 2023 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2023
Field Trip - March 8-10

This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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Announcement January 20, 2022

A Week Left to Apply for Our Inaugural Colorado River Water Leaders Class
Foundation launching new program modeled after successful California program

California Water Leaders at Palo Verde DamThere is just about a week left to apply for our inaugural Colorado River Water Leaders program in 2022, which marks the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact.

The biennial program is modeled after our highly successful Water Leaders program in California, now 25 years strong.

Our Colorado River program will select rising stars from the seven U.S. states and tribal nations that rely on the river - California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – to participate in the seven-month class designed for working professionals. Class members will explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest river, deepen their water knowledge and build leadership skills. 

Get more information, tuition costs and application materials here to apply by the Jan. 28 deadline.

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Western Water January 14, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map By Douglas E. Beeman

As the Colorado River Shrinks, Can the Basin Find an Equitable Solution in Sharing the River’s Waters?
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Drought and climate change are raising concerns that a century-old Compact that divided the river’s waters could force unwelcome cuts in use for the upper watershed

Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, a key Colorado River reservoir that has seen its water level plummet after two decades of drought. Climate scientist Brad Udall calls himself the skunk in the room when it comes to the Colorado River. Armed with a deck of PowerPoint slides and charts that highlight the Colorado River’s worsening math, the Colorado State University scientist offers a grim assessment of the river’s future: Runoff from the river’s headwaters is declining, less water is flowing into Lake Powell – the key reservoir near the Arizona-Utah border – and at the same time, more water is being released from the reservoir than it can sustainably provide.

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Tour March 16, 2022 - 7:30am - March 18, 2022 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2022
Field Trip - March 16-18

The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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Western Water December 10, 2021 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-A Colorado River Veteran Takes on Top Water & Science Post at Interior Department By Douglas E. Beeman

A Colorado River Veteran Takes on the Top Water & Science Post at Interior Department
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Tanya Trujillo brings two decades of experience on Colorado River issues as she takes on the challenges of a river basin stressed by climate change

Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Interior Secretary for Water and Science For more than 20 years, Tanya Trujillo has been immersed in the many challenges of the Colorado River, the drought-stressed lifeline for 40 million people from Denver to Los Angeles and the source of irrigation water for more than 5 million acres of winter lettuce, supermarket melons and other crops.

Trujillo has experience working in both the Upper and Lower Basins of the Colorado River, basins that split the river’s water evenly but are sometimes at odds with each other. She was a lawyer for the state of New Mexico, one of four states in the Upper Colorado River Basin, when key operating guidelines for sharing shortages on the river were negotiated in 2007. She later worked as executive director for the Colorado River Board of California, exposing her to the different perspectives and challenges facing California and the other states in the river’s Lower Basin.

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Announcement December 9, 2021

Apply for Our Inaugural Colorado River Water Leaders Class
Foundation to launch new program during the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact; join Dec. 21 virtual Q&A session

California Water Leaders at Palo Verde DamKnown for our popular Water Leaders program in California – about to mark its 25th anniversary – we are now launching a Colorado River Water Leaders program in 2022, the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact.

The biennial program will select rising stars from the seven U.S. states that rely on the river – California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – to participate in the seven-month class designed for working professionals. Class members will explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest river, deepen their water knowledge and build leadership skills. 

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Western Water August 27, 2021 Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Delta Water-Starved Colorado River Delta Gets Another Shot of Life from the River’s Flows By Gary Pitzer

Water-Starved Colorado River Delta Gets Another Shot of Life from the River’s Flows
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Despite water shortages along the drought-stressed river, experimental flows resume in Mexico to revive trees and provide habitat for birds and wildlife

Water flowing into a Colorado River Delta restoration site in Mexico.Water is flowing once again to the Colorado River’s delta in Mexico, a vast region that was once a natural splendor before the iconic Western river was dammed and diverted at the turn of the last century, essentially turning the delta into a desert.

In 2012, the idea emerged that water could be intentionally sent down the river to inundate the delta floodplain and regenerate native cottonwood and willow trees, even in an overallocated river system. Ultimately, dedicated flows of river water were brokered under cooperative efforts by the U.S. and Mexican governments.

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Western Water June 25, 2021 Colorado River Basin Map As Climate Change Turns Up The Heat in Las Vegas, Water Managers Try to Wring New Savings to Stretch Supply By Gary Pitzer

As Climate Change Turns Up The Heat in Las Vegas, Water Managers Try to Wring New Savings to Stretch Supply
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Rising temperatures are expected to drive up water demand as historic drought in the Colorado River Basin imperils Southern Nevada’s key water source

Las Vegas has reduced its water consumption even as its population has increased. Las Vegas, known for its searing summertime heat and glitzy casino fountains, is projected to get even hotter in the coming years as climate change intensifies. As temperatures rise, possibly as much as 10 degrees by end of the century, according to some models, water demand for the desert community is expected to spike. That is not good news in a fast-growing region that depends largely on a limited supply of water from an already drought-stressed Colorado River.

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Western Water May 21, 2021 Layperson's Guide to the State Water Project MWD's Jeff Kightlinger Reflects On Building Big Things, Essential Partnerships and His Hopes For the Delta By Gary Pitzer

MWD’s Jeff Kightlinger Reflects On Building Big Things, Essential Partnerships and His Hopes For the Delta
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Veteran Water Boss, Retiring After 25 Years With SoCal Water Giant, Discusses ‘Permanent’ Drought, Conservation Gains & the Struggling Colorado River

Jeff Kightlinger, longtime general manager of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.When you oversee the largest supplier of treated water in the United States, you tend to think big.

Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for the last 15 years, has focused on diversifying his agency’s water supply and building security through investment. That means looking beyond MWD’s borders to ensure the reliable delivery of water to two-thirds of California’s population.

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Western Water November 20, 2020 By Gary Pitzer

Milestone Colorado River Management Plan Mostly Worked Amid Epic Drought, Review Finds
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Draft assessment of 2007 Interim Guidelines expected to provide a guide as talks begin on new river operating rules for the iconic Southwestern river

At full pool, Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States by volume. but two decades of drought have dramatically dropped the water level behind Hoover Dam.Twenty years ago, the Colorado River Basin’s hydrology began tumbling into a historically bad stretch. The weather turned persistently dry. Water levels in the system’s anchor reservoirs of Lake Powell and Lake Mead plummeted. A river system relied upon by nearly 40 million people, farms and ecosystems across the West was in trouble. And there was no guide on how to respond.

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Western Water November 6, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map By Gary Pitzer

A Colorado River Leader Who Brokered Key Pacts to Aid West’s Vital Water Artery Assesses His Legacy and the River’s Future
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Terry Fulp, regional Reclamation director, urges continued collaboration and cooperation to meet the river's tough water management challenges ahead

Terry FulpManaging water resources in the Colorado River Basin is not for the timid or those unaccustomed to big challenges. Careers are devoted to responding to all the demands put upon the river: water supply, hydropower, recreation and environmental protection.

All of this while the Basin endures a seemingly endless drought and forecasts of increasing dryness in the future.

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Western Water September 11, 2020 By Gary Pitzer

The Colorado River is awash in data vital to its management, but making sense of it all is a challenge
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Major science report that highlights scientific shortcomings and opportunities in the Basin could aid water managers as they rewrite river's operating rules

The Colorado River threading its way through a desert canyon near Lee Ferry, Arizona. Practically every drop of water that flows through the meadows, canyons and plains of the Colorado River Basin has reams of science attached to it. Snowpack, streamflow and tree ring data all influence the crucial decisions that guide water management of the iconic Western river every day.

Dizzying in its scope, detail and complexity, the scientific information on the Basin’s climate and hydrology has been largely scattered in hundreds of studies and reports. Some studies may conflict with others, or at least appear to. That’s problematic for a river that’s a lifeline for 40 million people and more than 4 million acres of irrigated farmland.

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Aquapedia background September 4, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map

Colorado River Compact

Signing of the Colorado River Compact in 1922The Colorado River Compact of 1922 marked the first time in U.S. history that more than three states negotiated an agreement among themselves to apportion the waters of a stream or river.

The compact is the cornerstone of the “Law of the River” – a complex set of interstate compacts, federal laws, court decisions and decrees, contracts and federal actions that regulate use of the Colorado River.

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Western Water July 17, 2020 Long Criticized For Inaction At Salton Sea, California Says It’s All-in On Effort To Preserve State’s Largest Lake Gary Pitzer

Long Criticized For Inaction At Salton Sea, California Says It’s All-In On Effort To Preserve State’s Largest Lake
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Dust suppression, habitat are key elements in long-term plan to aid sea, whose ills have been a sore point in Colorado River management

The Salton Sea is a major nesting, wintering and stopover site for about 400 bird species. Out of sight and out of mind to most people, the Salton Sea in California’s far southeast corner has challenged policymakers and local agencies alike to save the desert lake from becoming a fetid, hyper-saline water body inhospitable to wildlife and surrounded by clouds of choking dust.

The sea’s problems stretch beyond its boundaries in Imperial and Riverside counties and threaten to undermine multistate management of the Colorado River. A 2019 Drought Contingency Plan for the Lower Colorado River Basin was briefly stalled when the Imperial Irrigation District, holding the river’s largest water allocation, balked at participating in the plan because, the district said, it ignored the problems of the Salton Sea.  

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Western Water June 12, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map A Key Player On Colorado River Issues Seeks To Balance Competing Water Demands In The River's Upper Basin Gary Pitzer

A Key Player On Colorado River Issues Seeks To Balance Competing Water Demands In The River’s Upper Basin
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Colorado’s water chief Becky Mitchell, now the state’s point person on the Upper Colorado River Commission, brings decades of water know-how to state, interstate assignments

Becky Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board since 2017 and the state’s representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission.Colorado is home to the headwaters of the Colorado River and the water policy decisions made in the Centennial State reverberate throughout the river’s sprawling basin that stretches south to Mexico. The stakes are huge in a basin that serves 40 million people, and responding to the water needs of the economy, productive agriculture, a robust recreational industry and environmental protection takes expertise, leadership and a steady hand.

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Western Water May 15, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Questions Simmer About Lake Powell’s Future As Drought, Climate Change Point To A Drier Colorado River Basin
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: A key reservoir for Colorado River storage program, Powell faces demands from stakeholders in Upper and Lower Basins with different water needs as runoff is forecast to decline

Persistent drought in the Colorado River Basin combined with the coordinated operations with Lake Mead has left Lake Powell consistently about half-full. Sprawled across a desert expanse along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s nearly 100-foot high bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full. How those challenges play out as demand grows for the river’s water amid a changing climate is fueling simmering questions about Powell’s future.

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Tour May 20, 2021 - 2:30pm - 5:30pm Nick Gray Learn About Infrastructure and Environmental Restoration During Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2021
A Virtual Journey - May 20

This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour. 

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Western Water January 16, 2020 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Douglas E. Beeman

Water Resource Innovation, Hard-Earned Lessons and Colorado River Challenges — Western Water Year in Review
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK-Our 2019 articles spanned the gamut from groundwater sustainability and drought resiliency to collaboration and innovation

Smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire as viewed from Lake Oroville in Northern California. Innovative efforts to accelerate restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires. Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address persistent challenges facing the Colorado River. 

These were among the issues Western Water explored in 2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed them.

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Western Water December 13, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Can a Grand Vision Solve the Colorado River’s Challenges? Or Will Incremental Change Offer Best Hope for Success?
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: With talks looming on a new operating agreement for the river, a debate has emerged over the best approach to address its challenges

Photo of Lake Mead and Hoover DamThe Colorado River is arguably one of the hardest working rivers on the planet, supplying water to 40 million people and a large agricultural economy in the West. But it’s under duress from two decades of drought and decisions made about its management will have exceptional ramifications for the future, especially as impacts from climate change are felt.

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Western Water December 13, 2019 Jenn Bowles Jennifer Bowles

Exploring Different Approaches for Solving the Colorado River’s Myriad Challenges
EDITOR’S NOTE: We examine a debate that emerged from our Colorado River Symposium over whether incrementalism or grand vision is the best path forward

Jenn Bowles, Water Education Foundation Executive DirectorEvery other year we hold an invitation-only Colorado River Symposium attended by various stakeholders from across the seven Western states and Mexico that rely on the iconic river. We host this three-day event in Santa Fe, N.M., where the 1922 Colorado River Compact was signed, as part of our mission to catalyze critical conversations to build bridges and inform collaborative decision-making.

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Western Water September 12, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Could “Black Swan” Events Spawned by Climate Change Wreak Havoc in the Colorado River Basin?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Scientists say a warming planet increases odds of extreme drought and flood; officials say they’re trying to include those possibilities in their plans

Runoff from what some describe as an "epic flood" in 1983 strained the capacity of Glen Canyon Dam to convey water fast enough.  The Colorado River Basin’s 20 years of drought and the dramatic decline in water levels at the river’s key reservoirs have pressed water managers to adapt to challenging conditions. But even more extreme — albeit rare — droughts or floods that could overwhelm water managers may lie ahead in the Basin as the effects of climate change take hold, say a group of scientists. They argue that stakeholders who are preparing to rewrite the operating rules of the river should plan now for how to handle these so-called “black swan” events so they’re not blindsided.

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Announcement September 11, 2019

Save The Dates For Next Year’s Water 101 Workshop and Lower Colorado River Tour
Applications for 2020 Water Leaders class will be available by the first week of October

Dates are now set for two key Foundation events to kick off 2020 — our popular Water 101 Workshop, scheduled for Feb. 20 at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, and our Lower Colorado River Tour, which will run from March 11-13.

In addition, applications will be available by the first week of October for our 2020 class of Water Leaders, our competitive yearlong program for early to mid-career up-and-coming water professionals. To learn more about the program, check out our Water Leaders program page.

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Western Water August 8, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

A Rancher-Led Group Is Boosting the Health of the Colorado River Near Its Headwaters
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: A Colorado partnership is engaged in a river restoration effort to aid farms and fish habitat that could serve as a model across the West

Strategic placement of rocks promotes a more natural streamflow that benefits ranchers and fish. High in the headwaters of the Colorado River, around the hamlet of Kremmling, Colorado, generations of families have made ranching and farming a way of life, their hay fields and cattle sustained by the river’s flow. But as more water was pulled from the river and sent over the Continental Divide to meet the needs of Denver and other cities on the Front Range, less was left behind to meet the needs of ranchers and fish.

“What used to be a very large river that inundated the land has really become a trickle,” said Mely Whiting, Colorado counsel for Trout Unlimited. “We estimate that 70 percent of the flow on an annual average goes across the Continental Divide and never comes back.”

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Western Water July 11, 2019 California Water Map

Your Don’t-Miss Roundup of Summer Reading From Western Water

Dear Western Water reader, 

Clockwise, from top: Lake Powell, on a drought-stressed Colorado River; Subsidence-affected bridge over the Friant-Kern Canal in the San Joaquin Valley;  A homeless camp along the Sacramento River near Old Town Sacramento; Water from a desalination plant in Southern California.Summer is a good time to take a break, relax and enjoy some of the great beaches, waterways and watersheds around California and the West. We hope you’re getting a chance to do plenty of that this July.

But in the weekly sprint through work, it’s easy to miss some interesting nuggets you might want to read. So while we’re taking a publishing break to work on other water articles planned for later this year, we want to help you catch up on Western Water stories from the first half of this year that you might have missed. 

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Western Water May 23, 2019 Gary Pitzer

150 Years After John Wesley Powell Ventured Down the Colorado River, How Should We Assess His Legacy in the West?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: University of Colorado’s Charles Wilkinson on Powell, Water and the American West

We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things.

~John Wesley Powell

Explorer John Wesley Powell and Paiute Chief Tau-Gu looking over the Virgin River in 1873.Powell scrawled those words in his journal as he and his expedition paddled their way into the deep walls of the Grand Canyon on a stretch of the Colorado River in August 1869. Three months earlier, the 10-man group had set out on their exploration of the iconic Southwest river by hauling their wooden boats into a major tributary of the Colorado, the Green River in Wyoming, for their trip into the “great unknown,” as Powell described it.

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Western Water May 9, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

With Drought Plan in Place, Colorado River Stakeholders Face Even Tougher Talks Ahead On The River’s Future
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Talks are about to begin on a potentially sweeping agreement that could reimagine how the Colorado River is managed

Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam, shows the effects of nearly two decades of drought. Even as stakeholders in the Colorado River Basin celebrate the recent completion of an unprecedented drought plan intended to stave off a crashing Lake Mead, there is little time to rest. An even larger hurdle lies ahead as they prepare to hammer out the next set of rules that could vastly reshape the river’s future.

Set to expire in 2026, the current guidelines for water deliveries and shortage sharing, launched in 2007 amid a multiyear drought, were designed to prevent disputes that could provoke conflict.

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Western Water April 11, 2019 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map Gary Pitzer

Bruce Babbitt Urges Creation of Bay-Delta Compact as Way to End ‘Culture of Conflict’ in California’s Key Water Hub
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Former Interior secretary says Colorado River Compact is a model for achieving peace and addressing environmental and water needs in the Delta

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt gives the Anne J. Schneider Lecture April 3 at Sacramento's Crocker Art Museum.  Bruce Babbitt, the former Arizona governor and secretary of the Interior, has been a thoughtful, provocative and sometimes forceful voice in some of the most high-profile water conflicts over the last 40 years, including groundwater management in Arizona and the reduction of California’s take of the Colorado River. In 2016, former California Gov. Jerry Brown named Babbitt as a special adviser to work on matters relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Delta tunnels plan.

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Western Water March 14, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

‘Mission-Oriented’ Colorado River Veteran Takes the Helm as the US Commissioner of IBWC
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Jayne Harkins’ duties include collaboration with Mexico on Colorado River supply, water quality issues

Jayne Harkins, the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission.For the bulk of her career, Jayne Harkins has devoted her energy to issues associated with the management of the Colorado River, both with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.

Now her career is taking a different direction. Harkins, 58, was appointed by President Trump last August to take the helm of the United States section of the U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees myriad water matters between the two countries as they seek to sustainably manage the supply and water quality of the Colorado River, including its once-thriving Delta in Mexico, and other rivers the two countries share. She is the first woman to be named the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission for either the United States or Mexico in the commission’s 129-year history.

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Tour March 11, 2020 - 7:30am - March 13, 2020 - 6:30pm Nick Gray New Experience Announced for Lower Colorado River Tour: Topock Gorge Boat Trip Get a 'Hard Hat' Tour of Hoover Dam and Visit Lake Mead on Lower Colorado River Tour Take the Pulse of the ‘Lifeline of the Southwest’ on the Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2020
Field Trip - March 11-13

This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour. 

Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
View map
  • Dan Bunk & Mike Bernardo Presentation
  • Seth Shanahan Presentation
  • Chuck Cullom Presentation
  • Vineetha Kartha Presentation
  • Tina Shields Presentation
  • Kevin Hempe Presentation
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Western Water February 28, 2019 Groundwater Education Bundle Gary Pitzer

Imported Water Built Southern California; Now Santa Monica Aims To Wean Itself Off That Supply
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Santa Monica is tapping groundwater, rainwater and tighter consumption rules to bring local supply and demand into balance

The Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) treats dry weather urban runoff to remove pollutants such as sediment, oil, grease, and pathogens for nonpotable use.Imported water from the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on imported water.

Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s, Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.

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Western Water January 4, 2019 Douglas E. Beeman

Women Leading in Water, Colorado River Drought and Promising Solutions — Western Water Year in Review

Dear Western Water readers:

Women named in the last year to water leadership roles (clockwise, from top left): Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources; Gloria Gray,  chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner; Jayne Harkins,  commissioner, International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission.The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.

These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.

We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:

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Western Water December 20, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

As Colorado River Stakeholders Draft a Drought Plan, the Margin for Error in Managing Water Supplies Narrows
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Climate report and science studies point toward a drier Basin with less runoff and a need to re-evaluate water management

This aerial view of Hoover Dam shows how far the level of Lake Mead has fallen due to ongoing drought conditions.As stakeholders labor to nail down effective and durable drought contingency plans for the Colorado River Basin, they face a stark reality: Scientific research is increasingly pointing to even drier, more challenging times ahead.

The latest sobering assessment landed the day after Thanksgiving, when U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Fourth National Climate Assessment concluded that Earth’s climate is changing rapidly compared to the pace of natural variations that have occurred throughout its history, with greenhouse gas emissions largely the cause.

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Western Water November 2, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

As Shortages Loom in the Colorado River Basin, Indian Tribes Seek to Secure Their Water Rights
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: A study of tribal water rights could shed light on future Indian water use

Aerial view of the lower Colorado RiverAs the Colorado River Basin becomes drier and shortage conditions loom, one great variable remains: How much of the river’s water belongs to Native American tribes?

Native Americans already use water from the Colorado River and its tributaries for a variety of purposes, including leasing it to non-Indian users. But some tribes aren’t using their full federal Indian reserved water right and others have water rights claims that have yet to be resolved. Combined, tribes have rights to more water than some states in the Colorado River Basin.

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Western Water September 21, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Despite Risk of Unprecedented Shortage on the Colorado River, Reclamation Commissioner Sees Room for Optimism
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Commissioner Brenda Burman, in address at Foundation’s Water Summit, also highlights Shasta Dam plan

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda BurmanThe Colorado River Basin is more than likely headed to unprecedented shortage in 2020 that could force supply cuts to some states, but work is “furiously” underway to reduce the risk and avert a crisis, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman told an audience of California water industry people.

During a keynote address at the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento, Burman said there is opportunity for Colorado River Basin states to control their destiny, but acknowledged that in water, there are no guarantees that agreement can be reached.

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Western Water September 7, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Can Steadier Releases from Glen Canyon Dam Make Colorado River ‘Buggy’ Enough for Fish and Wildlife?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Ted Kennedy, U.S. Geological Survey aquatic scientist

U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist Ted Kennedy collects aquatic invertebrates in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.Water means life for all the Grand Canyon’s inhabitants, including the many varieties of insects that are a foundation of the ecosystem’s food web. But hydropower operations upstream on the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam, in Northern Arizona near the Utah border, disrupt the natural pace of insect reproduction as the river rises and falls, sometimes dramatically. Eggs deposited at the river’s edge are often left high and dry and their loss directly affects available food for endangered fish such as the humpback chub.

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Western Water August 10, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

New Leader Takes Over as the Upper Colorado River Commission Grapples With Less Water and a Drier Climate
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission

Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River CommissionAmy Haas recently became the first non-engineer and the first woman to serve as executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission in its 70-year history, putting her smack in the center of a host of daunting challenges facing the Upper Colorado River Basin.

Yet those challenges will be quite familiar to Haas, an attorney who for the past year has served as deputy director and general counsel of the commission. (She replaced longtime Executive Director Don Ostler). She has a long history of working within interstate Colorado River governance, including representing New Mexico as its Upper Colorado River commissioner and playing a central role in the negotiation of the recently signed U.S.-Mexico agreement known as Minute 323.

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Western Water June 15, 2018 Jenn Bowles Colorado River Basin Map Jennifer Bowles

Domino Effect: As Arizona Searches For a Unifying Voice, a Drought Plan for the Lower Colorado River Is Stalled
EDITOR'S NOTE: Finding solutions to the Colorado River — or any disputed river —may be the most important role anyone can play

Nowhere is the domino effect in Western water policy played out more than on the Colorado River, and specifically when it involves the Lower Basin states of California, Nevada and Arizona. We are seeing that play out now as the three states strive to forge a Drought Contingency Plan. Yet that plan can’t be finalized until Arizona finds a unifying voice between its major water players, an effort you can read more about in the latest in-depth article of Western Water.

Even then, there are some issues to resolve just within California.

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Western Water June 15, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

As Colorado River Levels Drop, Pressure Grows On Arizona To Complete A Plan For Water Shortages
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: A dispute over who speaks for Arizona has stalled work with California, Nevada on Drought Contingency Plan

Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

It’s high-stakes time in Arizona. The state that depends on the Colorado River to help supply its cities and farms — and is first in line to absorb a shortage — is seeking a unified plan for water supply management to join its Lower Basin neighbors, California and Nevada, in a coordinated plan to preserve water levels in Lake Mead before they run too low.

If the lake’s elevation falls below 1,075 feet above sea level, the secretary of the Interior would declare a shortage and Arizona’s deliveries of Colorado River water would be reduced by 320,000 acre-feet. Arizona says that’s enough to serve about 1 million households in one year.

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Western Water May 18, 2018 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

Could the Arizona Desert Offer California and the West a Guide to Solving Groundwater Problems?
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Environmental Defense Fund report highlights strategies from Phoenix and elsewhere for managing demands on groundwater

Skyline of Phoenix, ArizonaAs California embarks on its unprecedented mission to harness groundwater pumping, the Arizona desert may provide one guide that local managers can look to as they seek to arrest years of overdraft.

Groundwater is stressed by a demand that often outpaces natural and artificial recharge. In California, awareness of groundwater’s importance resulted in the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 that aims to have the most severely depleted basins in a state of balance in about 20 years.

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Tour April 11, 2018 - April 13, 2018

Lower Colorado River Tour 2018

Lower Colorado River Tour participants at Hoover Dam.

We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
View map
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Announcement March 28, 2018

Learn About Efforts to Improve Weather Forecasting at San Pedro Drought Workshop
Agenda for April 19 event just posted; check out other topics, speakers

Dramatic swings in weather patterns over the past few years in California are stark reminders of climate variability and regional vulnerability. Alternating years of drought and intense rain events make long-term planning for storing and distributing water a challenging task.

Current weather forecasting capabilities provide details for short time horizons. Attend the Paleo Drought Workshop in San Pedro on April 19 to learn more about research efforts to improve sub-seasonal to seasonal precipitation forecasting, known as S2S, and how those models could provide more useful weather scenarios for resource managers.

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Announcement March 21, 2018

Meager Snowfall in the Rockies Extends Drought Conditions Along Colorado River
Experts offer updates on latest conditions and forecasts during Lower Colorado River Tour April 11-13

A drought has lingered in the Colorado River Basin since 2000, causing reservoir storage to decline from nearly full to about half of capacity. So far this year, a meager snowpack in the Rocky Mountains hasn’t helped much.

In fact, forecasters say this winter will likely go down as the sixth-driest on record for the river system that supplies water to seven states, including California, and Mexico.

On our Lower Colorado River Tour, April 11-13, you will meet with water managers from the three Lower Basin states: Nevada, Arizona and California. The three states are working to finalize a Drought Contingency Plan to take voluntary cuts to keep Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, from hitting critical levels and causing a shortage declaration.

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Announcement March 14, 2018

Improve Drought Preparedness By Digging into the Past at April 19th Workshop in San Pedro
Learn new details about historic droughts in Southern California watersheds and how they provide insight on water management today

Cracked dirt as in a droughtCalifornia’s 2012-2016 drought revealed vulnerabilities for water users throughout the state, and the long-term record suggests more challenges may lie ahead.  

An April 19 workshop in San Pedro will highlight new information about drought durations in Southern California watersheds dating back centuries.

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Western Water March 9, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

A Colorado River Raft Trip Offers a Firsthand Lesson in the Power of Nature
ON THE ROAD: Writer Gary Pitzer offers a sense of the Grand Canyon that was first explored by John Wesley Powell

Writer Gary Pitzer at the Grand CanyonMost people see the Grand Canyon from the rim, thousands of feet above where the Colorado River winds through it for almost 300 miles.

But to travel it afloat a raft is to experience the wondrous majesty of the canyon and the river itself while gaining perspective about geology, natural beauty and the passage of time.

Beginning at Lees Ferry, some 30,000 people each year launch downriver on commercial or private trips. Before leaving, they are dutifully briefed by a National Park Service ranger who explains to them about the unique environment that awaits them, how to keep it protected and, most importantly, how to protect themselves.

They also are told about the pair of ravens that will inevitably follow them through the canyon, seizing every opportunity to scrounge food.

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Announcement January 31, 2018

Tour the Lower Colorado River in April and See the ‘Lifeblood of the Southwest’ Up Close
Join us as we visit Hoover Dam and other infrastructure, wildlife refuges, farming regions and the Salton Sea

Tickets are now on sale for the Water Education Foundation’s April 11-13 tour of the Lower Colorado River. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to visit key sites along one of the nation’s most famous rivers, including a private tour of Hoover Dam, Central Arizona Project’s Mark Wilmer pumping plant and the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. The tour also visits the Salton Sea, Slab City, the All-American Canal and farming regions in the Imperial and Coachella valleys.

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Announcement December 21, 2017

River Report Examines Climate Change Impact on Colorado River Basin

Drought and climate change are having a noticeable impact on the Colorado River Basin, and that is posing potential challenges to those in the Southwestern United States and Mexico who rely on the river.

In the just-released Winter 2017-18 edition of River Report, writer Gary Pitzer examines what scientists project will be the impact of climate change on the Colorado River Basin, and how water managers are preparing for a future of increasing scarcity.

  • Read more
River Reports December 19, 2017

Winter 2017-18 River Report
A Warmer Future and Increased Risk

Rising temperatures from climate change are having a noticeable effect on how much water is flowing down the Colorado River. Read the latest River Report to learn more about what’s happening, and how water managers are responding.

  • Read River Report Winter 2017-18 here
  • Read more
Western Water Magazine December 11, 2017

The Colorado River: Living with Risk, Avoiding Curtailment
Fall 2017

This issue of Western Water discusses the challenges facing the Colorado River Basin resulting from persistent drought, climate change and an overallocated river, and how water managers and others are trying to face the future. 

  • Read more
Tour February 27, 2019 - 7:30am - March 1, 2019 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2019

This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour. 

Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
View map
  • Warren Turkett
  • Dan Bunk
  • Seth Shanahan
  • Deanna Ikeya
  • Doyle Wilson
  • Gerald Filipiak
  • Sarah Bartlett
  • Tina Shields
  • Read more
Publication March 27, 2017

Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Delta
Published 2017

The Colorado River Delta once spanned nearly 2 million acres and stretched from the northern tip of the Gulf of California in Mexico to Southern California’s Salton Sea. Today it’s one-tenth that size, yet still an important estuary, wildlife habitat and farming region even though Colorado River flows rarely reach the sea.

  • Read more
Announcement March 15, 2017

Despite Above-Average Snowfall in the Rockies, Lower Colorado River Likely to Remain in Drought
Experts will update you on the latest conditions and forecasts during our three-day tour

Since 2000, the Colorado River Basin has experienced an historic, extended drought causing reservoir storage in the Colorado River system to decline from nearly full to about half of capacity. For the Lower Basin, a key point has been to maintain the level of Lake Mead to prevent a shortage declaration.

A healthy snowfall in the Rockies has reduced the odds of a shortage this year, but the basin states still must come to terms with a static supply and growing demands, as well as future impacts from climate change.

On our Lower Colorado River Tour, April 5-7, you will meet with water managers from the three Lower Basin states: Nevada, Arizona and California. Federal, state and local agencies will update you on the latest hydrologic conditions and how recent storms might change plans for water supply and storage.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background December 29, 2016

Quagga mussel

Quagga musselsA troublesome invasive species is the quagga mussel, a tiny freshwater mollusk that attaches itself to water utility infrastructure and reproduces at a rapid rate, causing damage to pipes and pumps.

First found in the Great Lakes in 1988 (dumped with ballast water from overseas ships), the quagga mussel along with the zebra mussel are native to the rivers and lakes of eastern Europe and western Asia, including the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas and the Dneiper River drainage of Ukraine and Ponto-Caspian Sea.  

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine November 16, 2016

Two Countries, One River: Crafting a New Agreement
Fall 2016

This issue of Western Water examines the ongoing effort between the United States and Mexico to develop a new agreement to the 1944 Treaty that will continue the binational cooperation on constructing Colorado River infrastructure, storing water in Lake Mead and providing instream flows for the Colorado River Delta.

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt November 10, 2016 Jenn Bowles

Two Countries, One River: Crafting a New Agreement
Fall 2016

As vital as the Colorado River is to the United States and Mexico, so is the ongoing process by which the two countries develop unique agreements to better manage the river and balance future competing needs.

The prospect is challenging. The river is over allocated as urban areas and farmers seek to stretch every drop of their respective supplies. Since a historic treaty between the two countries was signed in 1944, the United States and Mexico have periodically added a series of arrangements to the treaty called minutes that aim to strengthen the binational ties while addressing important water supply, water quality and environmental concerns.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background August 30, 2016

Lake Havasu & Parker Dam

Lake Havasu is a reservoir on the Colorado River that supplies water to the Colorado River Aqueduct and Central Arizona Project. It is located at the California/Arizona border, approximately 150 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada and 30 miles southeast of Needles, California.

  • Read more
  • Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River
Aquapedia background August 30, 2016

Lake Mathews

Situated in southwest Riverside County near the Santa Ana Mountains – about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles – Lake Mathews is a major reservoir in Southern California.

  • Read more
  • Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River
Aquapedia background August 25, 2016

All-American Canal

As one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, the Imperial Valley receives its water from the Colorado River via the All-American Canal. Rainfall is scarce in the desert region at less than three inches per year and groundwater is of little value. 

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine January 15, 2016

Historic Drought and the Colorado River: Today and Tomorrow
November/December 2015

This issue looks at the historic drought that has gripped the Colorado River Basin since 2000 and discusses the lessons learned, the continuing challenges and what the future might hold.

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt January 15, 2016 Jenn Bowles

Historic Drought and the Colorado River: Today and Tomorrow
November/December 2015

The dramatic decline in water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell is perhaps the most visible sign of the historic drought that has gripped the Colorado River Basin for the past 16 years. In 2000, the reservoirs stood at nearly 100 percent capacity; today, Lake Powell is at 49 percent capacity while Lake Mead has dropped to 38 percent. Before the late season runoff of Miracle May, it looked as if Mead might drop low enough to trigger the first-ever Lower Basin shortage determination in 2016.

Read the excerpt below from the Sept./Oct. 2015 issue along with the editor’s note. Click here to subscribe to Western Water and get full access.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine June 15, 2015

Countdown at the Salton Sea
May/June 2015

This issue looks at the dilemma of the shrinking Salton Sea. The shallow, briny inland lake at the southeastern edge of California is slowly evaporating and becoming more saline – threatening the habitat for fish and birds and worsening air quality as dust from the dry lakebed is whipped by the constant winds.

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt June 12, 2015

Countdown at the Salton Sea
May/June 2015

The clock is ticking for the Salton Sea.

The shallow, briny inland lake at the southeastern edge of California is slowly evaporating and becoming more saline – threatening the habitat for fish and birds and worsening air quality as dust from the dry lakebed is whipped by the constant winds.

(Read this excerpt from the May/June 2015 issue along with the editor’s note. Click here to subscribe to Western Water and get full access.)

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt December 23, 2014 Jenn Bowles

The Next Steps of the Colorado River Basin Study
November/December 2014

After much time, study and investment, the task of identifying solutions to ensure the long-term sus­tainability of the Colorado River is underway. People from the Upper and Lower basins representing all interest groups are preparing to put their signatures to documents aimed at ensuring the river’s vitality for the next 50 years and beyond.

  • Read more
Tour March 11, 2015 - March 13, 2015 Images from the Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2015
Field Trip (past)

This 3-day, 2-night tour followed the course of the lower Colorado River through Nevada, Arizona and California, and included a private tour of Hoover Dam.

  • Learn More About the Tour
  • Travel Option for the Lower Colorado River Tour
  • General Tour Information
  • Colorado River Basin: Current Conditions and Operational Update - D. Bunk, USDOI
  • Intentionally Created Surplus (ICS) fact sheet
  • Law of the River fact sheet
  • Imperial Dam fact sheet
  • Integrating Agriculture & Conservation: The IID Case Study - T. Shields, IID
  • Bark Beetles, Dust on Snow, and Management under Uncertainty - R. Smith
  • Current Conditions and Water Supply Outlook for the Colorado River Basin - R. Smith
  • The long perspective on Colorado River flow from tree rings - R. Smith
  • Colorado River Commission - W. Turkett
  • Lake Havasu City Water Supply
  • Read more
River Reports June 13, 2014

Cutting Colorado River Use: The California Plan
November/December 1998

This issue updates progress on crafting and implementing California’s 4.4 plan to reduce its use of Colorado River water by 800,000 acre-feet. The state has used as much as 5.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually, but under pressure from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the other six states that share this resource, California’s Colorado River parties have been trying to close the gap between demand and supply. The article – delayed to include the latest information from Babbitt’s Dec.

  • Read more
River Reports June 13, 2014

The California Plan and the Salton Sea
November/December 2001

This issue updates progress on California’s Colorado River Water Use Plan (commonly called the 4.4 Plan ), with a special focus on the Salton Sea restoration/water transfer dilemma. It also includes information on the proposed MWD-Palo Verde Irrigation District deal, the Colorado River Delta, and the legislative debate in the national and state capitals.

  • Read more
River Reports June 13, 2014

Can California Make the 4.4 Plan Work?
March/April 2003

With passage of the original Dec. 31, 2002, deadline to have a Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) in place for the Colorado River, California suffered a cutback in the surplus Colorado River flows it had relied upon by years. Further negotiations followed in an attempt to bring the California parties to an agreement. This issue examines the history leading to the QSA, the state of affairs of the so-called 4.4 Plan as of early March, and gives readers a clearer crystal ball with which to speculate about California’s water future on the Colorado River.

  • Read more
River Reports June 13, 2014

The Ties that Bind: The Evolving Policy of the Colorado River
March/April 2004

This issue of Western Water provides the latest information on some of the philosophical, political and practical ideas being discussed on the river. Some of these issues were discussed at the Water Education Foundation’s Colorado River Symposium, “The Ties that Bind: Policy and the Evolving Law of the Colorado River,” held last fall at The Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe, New Mexico – site of negotiations on the 1922 Colorado River Compact.

  • Read more
River Reports June 13, 2014

Facing the Future: Modifying Management of the Colorado River
January/February 2006

This issue of Western Water explores the issues surrounding and the components of the Colorado River Basin seven-state proposed agreement released Feb. 3 regarding sharing shortages on the river, and new plans to improve the river’s management. The article includes excerpts from the Foundation’s September 2005 Colorado River Symposium held in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

  • Read more
River Reports June 13, 2014

1922-2007: 85 Years of the Colorado River Compact
November/December 2007

This issue of Western Water marks the 85th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact and considers its role in the past and present on key issues such as federal funding for water projects and international issues. Much of the content for this magazine came from the Foundation’s September Colorado River Symposium, The Colorado River Compact at 85 and Changes on the River.

  • Read more
Product May 29, 2014

Colorado River Facts Slide Card

This card includes information about the Colorado River, who uses the river, how the river’s water is divided and other pertinent facts about this vital resource for the Southwest. Beautifully illustrated with color photographs.

  • Read more
Product May 29, 2014

Colorado River Compact 75th Anniversary Symposium Proceedings

In 1997, the Foundation sponsored a three-day, invitation-only symposium at Bishop’s Lodge, New Mexico, site of the 1922 Colorado River Compact signing, to discuss the historical implications of that agreement, current Colorado River issues and future challenges. The 204-page proceedings features the panel discussions and presentations on such issues as the Law of the River, water marketing and environmental restoration.

  • Read more
Video May 22, 2014

Shaping of the West: 100 Years of Reclamation

30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern day issues.

  • Read more
Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Colorado River Basin Map
Redesigned in 2017

Redesigned in 2017, this beautiful map depicts the seven Western states that share the Colorado River with Mexico. The Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Mexico. Text on this beautiful, 24×36-inch map, which is suitable for framing, explains the river’s apportionment, history and the need to adapt its management for urban growth and expected climate change impacts.

  • Read more
Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Nevada Water Map
Published 2004

This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the environment. It features natural and manmade water resources throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers, Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River that forms the state’s eastern boundary.

  • Read more
Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law
Updated 2020

The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of California water rights law available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation ditch through the complex web of California water rights.

  • Read more
Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing
Updated 2005

The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides background information on water rights, types of transfers and critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in 1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River transfers and the role of private companies in California’s developing water market. 

Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.

  • Read more
Publication May 20, 2014 California Water Map

Layperson’s Guide to California Water
Updated 2021

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an excellent overview of the history of water development and use in California. It includes sections on flood management; the state, federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for stretching the water supply such as water marketing and conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a section on the human need for water. 

  • Read more
Photo gallery May 16, 2014

Images from the Lower Colorado River Tour

Copper Basin
  • Read more
Maps & Posters April 17, 2014 California Water Bundle

California Water Map
Updated December 2016

A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect gift for the water wonk in your life.

Our 24×36-inch California Water Map is widely known for being the definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts – including federally, state and locally funded projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects, wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado River.

  • Read more
Tour February 26, 2014 Images from the Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2014
Field Trip (past)

The 2014 tour was held February 26 – 28.

This 3-day, 2-night tour follows the course of the lower Colorado River through Nevada, Arizona and California, and includes a private tour of Hoover Dam.

  • Southern Nevada's Water Needs
  • Colorado River Presentation
  • Atmospheric Rivers and the Colorado Basin
  • Dust on Snow, Bark Beetles and Extreme Events
  • Tree Ring Forecasting
  • Spring 2014 Runoff Outlook
  • Colorado River Basin: Current Conditions and Operarional Update
  • Colorado River Facts
  • Inadvertent Overrun and Payback Policy (IOPP)
  • Law of the River
  • 2014 Forecast of Consumptive Water Use
  • Lake Havasu City Water Supply
  • California Tribal Water Rights
  • IID Imperial Dam
  • IID Water Trasportation
  • Yuma County Ag Stats
  • Acronyms Cheat Sheet
  • The Latest Big Controversy on the Age of the Grand Canyon
  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map

Salton Sea

As part of the historic Colorado River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below sea level.

The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years, creating California’s largest inland body of water. The Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130 miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe. 

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin

Quantification Settlement Agreement

Lining the All-American Canal

The Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), signed in 2003, defined the rights to a portion of Colorado River water for the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The QSA responded to California consistently using more than its annual Colorado River entitlement of 4.4 million acre-feet. Additionally, the water needs of six other Colorado River Basin states had grown, making the river’s shared use increasingly crucial.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Colorado River Water and Mexico

The Mexican Water Treaty of 1944 committed the U.S. to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico on an annual basis, plus an additional 200,000 acre-feet under surplus conditions. The treaty is overseen by the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Colorado River water is delivered to Mexico at Morelos Dam, located 1.1 miles downstream from where the California-Baja California land boundary intersects the river between the town of Los Algodones in northwestern Mexico and Yuma County, Ariz.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Colorado River Delta (in Mexico)

The Colorado River Delta is located at the natural terminus of the Colorado River at the Gulf of California, just south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The desert ecosystem was formed by silt flushed downstream from the Colorado and fresh and brackish water mixing at the Gulf.

The Colorado River Delta once covered 9,650 square miles but has shrunk to less than 1 percent of its original size due to human-made water diversions.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin Colorado River Basin Map

Lower Colorado River Multispecies Conservation Program

Humpback chub

In 2005, the Interior Department launched a program to recover 27 species in the lower Colorado River, including seven the federal government has deemed threatened or endangered or threatened with extinction. The species include fish, birds, bats, mammals, insects, amphibians, reptiles, rodents and plants

The Lower Colorado River Multispecies Conservation Program has a 50-year plan to create at least 8,132 acres of new habitat and restore habitat that has become degraded.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map

Lee Ferry

Lee Ferry

Lee Ferry on the Arizona-Utah border is a key dividing point between the Colorado River’s Upper and Lower basins.

This split is important when it comes to determining how much water will be delivered from the Upper Basin to the Lower Basin [for a description of the Upper and Lower basins, visit the Colorado River page].

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

Image shows Glen Canyon Dam with Lake Powell in the background.The construction of Glen Canyon Dam in 1964 created Lake Powell. Both are located in north-central Arizona near the Utah border. Lake Powell acts as a holding tank for outflow from the Colorado River Upper Basin States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The water stored in Lake Powell is used for recreation, power generation and delivering water to the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona, and Nevada. 

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

John Wesley Powell

John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was historic and heroic for being first to lead an expedition down the Colorado River in 1869. A major who lost an arm in the Civil War Battle of Shiloh, he was an explorer, geologist, geographer and ethnologist.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Colorado River Water Use 4.4 Plan

California’s Colorado River Water Use Plan (known colloquially as the 4.4 Plan) intends to wean the state from its reliance on the surplus flows from the river and return California to its annual 4.4 million acre-feet basic apportionment of the river.

In the past, California has also used more than its basic apportionment.  Consequently, the U.S. Department of Interior urged California to devise a plan to reduce its water consumption to its basic entitlement.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Colorado River Timeline

600 Ancestral Pueblo and Hohokam Indians develop water distribution systems.

1500 Spanish explorers introduce livestock and ditch systems called acequias.

1847 Mormons arrive in the Salt Lake Valley; begin cultivating farmland.

1859 Oliver Wozencraft promotes idea of irrigating the Imperial Valley.

1865 Lower Colorado River lands begin to be set aside for American Indians.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Colorado River 2007 Interim Guidelines And Drought Contingency Plans

In 2005, after six years of severe drought in the Colorado River Basin, federal officials and representatives of the seven basin states — California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming — began building a framework to better respond to drought conditions and coordinate the operations of the basin’s two key reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The resulting Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead (Interim Guidelines) identified the conditions for shortage determinations and details of coordinated reservoir operations. The 2007 Interim Guidelines remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2025.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Delta

Colorado River

Colorado RiverThe turbulent Colorado River is one of the most heavily regulated and hardest working rivers in the world.

Geography

The Colorado falls some 10,000 feet on its way from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, helping to sustain a range of habitats and ecosystems as it weaves through mountains and deserts.

  • Read more
  • Colorado River Timeline
Western Water Magazine November 1, 2013

An Era of New Partnerships on the Colorado River
November/December 2013

This printed issue of Western Water examines how the various stakeholders have begun working together to meet the planning challenges for the Colorado River Basin, including agreements with Mexico, increased use of conservation and water marketing, and the goal of accomplishing binational environmental restoration and water-sharing programs.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine November 1, 2012

A Call to Action? The Colorado River Basin Supply and Demand Study
November/December 2012

This printed issue of Western Water examines the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study and what its finding might mean for the future of the lifeblood of the Southwest.

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt November 1, 2012 Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

A Call to Action? The Colorado River Basin Supply and Demand Study
November/December 2012

The Colorado River is one of the most heavily relied upon water supply sources in the world, serving 35 million people in seven states and Mexico. The river provides water to large cities, irrigates fields, powers turbines to generate electricity, thrills recreational enthusiasts and serves as a home for birds, fish and wildlife.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine November 1, 2011

Solving the Colorado River Basin’s Math Problem: Adapting to Change
November/December 2011

This printed issue of Western Water explores the historic nature of some of the key agreements in recent years, future challenges, and what leading state representatives identify as potential “worst-case scenarios.” Much of the content for this issue of Western Water came from the in-depth panel discussions at the Colorado River Symposium. The Foundation will publish the full proceedings of the Symposium in 2012.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine November 1, 2010

The Colorado River Drought: A Sobering Glimpse into the Future
November/December 2010

This printed issue of Western Water examines the Colorado River drought, and the ongoing institutional and operational changes underway to maintain the system and meet the future challenges in the Colorado River Basin.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine November 1, 2009

The Colorado River: Building a Sustainable Future
November/December 2009

This printed issue of Western Water explores some of the major challenges facing Colorado River stakeholders: preparing for climate change, forging U.S.-Mexico water supply solutions and dealing with continued growth in the basins states. Much of the content for this issue of Western Water came from the in-depth panel discussions at the September 2009 Colorado River Symposium.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine September 1, 2008

Just Add Water? Restoring the Colorado River Delta
September/October 2008

This printed copy of Western Water examines the Colorado River Delta, its ecological significance and the lengths to which international, state and local efforts are targeted and achieving environmental restoration while recognizing the needs of the entire river’s many users.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine May 1, 2007

The Struggle to Secure Water in the Southwest
May/June 2007

This issue of Western Water asks whether a groundwater compact is needed to manage this shared resource today. In the water-stressed West, there will need to be a recognition of sharing water resources or a line will need to be drawn in the sand against future growth.

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt May 1, 2007 Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

The Struggle to Secure Water in the Southwest
May/Jun 2007

“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.” – Rep. Wayne Aspinall, D-Colorado, chair, House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, 1959-1973

Rapid population growth and chronic droughts could augur dramatic changes for communities along the lower Colorado River. In Arizona, California and Nevada, a robust economy is spurring communities to find enough water to sustain the steady pace of growth. Established cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix continue their expansion but there is also activity in smaller, rural areas on Arizona’s northwest fringe where developers envision hundreds of thousands of new homes in the coming decades.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine July 1, 2005

On the Edge: Defusing Tensions on the Colorado River
July/August 2005

With interstate discussions of critical Colorado River issues seemingly headed for stalemate, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton stepped in May 2 to defuse, or at least defer, a potentially divisive debate over water releases from Lake Powell.

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt July 1, 2005 Glenn TottenRita Schmidt Sudman

On the Edge: Defusing Tensions on the Colorado River
Jul/Aug 2005

With interstate discussions of critical Colorado River issues seemingly headed for stalemate, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton stepped in May 2 to defuse, or at least defer, a potentially divisive debate over water releases from Lake Powell. In a letter to governors of the seven Colorado River Basin states, Norton preserved the status quo of river operations for five months, giving states and stakeholders a chance to move back from the edge before positions had hardened on two key issues: (1) shortage guidelines for the Lower Basin and (2) Upper Basin/ Lower Basin reservoir operations, particularly at Lake Powell. But Norton served notice that she wants discussions on those two issues to continue, possibly outside of the annual operation plan (AOP) consultation process, which at least one observer described as unwieldy.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine March 1, 2002

The Colorado River: Coming to Consensus Inside: A Conversation with Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley
March/April 2002

Drawn from a special Colorado River stakeholder symposium held in January 2002 at The Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this article provides an overview of several Colorado River issues that may or may not be resolved through consensus. Some of these issues include providing water for the Colorado River Delta, endangered species, dam re-operation and potential future trends around the basin as they relate to the California 4.4 Plan, drought and governance.

  • Read more
Western Water Excerpt March 1, 2002 Josh NewcomRita Schmidt Sudman

The Colorado River: Coming to Consensus
Mar/Apr 2002

The situation is true anywhere: when resources are stretched, tensions rise. In the arid Southwestern United States, this resource is water and tensions over it have been ever present since the westward migration in the 18th Century. Nowhere in this region has the competition for water been fiercer than in the Colorado River Basin. Whether it is more water for agriculture, more water for cities, more water for American Indian tribes or more water for the environment – there is a continuous quest by parties to obtain additional supplies of this “liquid gold” from the Colorado River. Sometimes the avenue chosen to acquire this desert wealth is the court system, as exemplified by the landmark Arizona v. California dispute that stretched for over 30 years.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine November 1, 1999

Managing the Colorado River
November/December 1999

Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999 in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional water development of the past has given way to a more collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment while stretching available water supplies. Specific topics addressed include the role of the Interior secretary in the basin, California’s 4.4 plan, water marketing and future challenges identified by participants.

  • Read more
Western Water Magazine November 1, 1999

Managing the Colorado River
November/December 1999

Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999 in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional water development of the past has given way to a more collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment while stretching available water supplies.

  • Read more

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