As adjacent Western states, California and Nevada share similar
issues related to drought and limited water resources. Both
states are participants in the 1922 Colorado River Compact and
the 2003 and 2007 Quantification Settlement Agreements to
allocate Colorado River deliveries. Also, about two-thirds of
Lake Tahoe lies in California and one-third in Nevada, and the
two states have formed a compact to work together on
environmental goals for the lake.
While the U.S. Forest Service pours resources into a runaway
battle on wildfire, it is losing the
war over water. About half of Western
water supply originates on national forest
land. But before that water reaches the West’s
major cities or great rivers, much
of it has already been claimed. Thousands of
farmers, ranchers, cities, housing developments and
industrial users pump water from the ground, channel
it away from streams into ditches or pipelines, and hold it
back in ponds and reservoirs — all to use public
water, often for private purposes.
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday
approved a bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Blake Moore
(R-UT) to better manage conservation efforts for saline lake
ecosystems and migratory birds in the West. … The Saline
Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2021,
H.R. 5345, which Rep. Moore introduced on Sept. 23 with lead
original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), would
authorize the director of the United States Geological Survey
(USGS) to establish a regional program to assess, monitor and
benefit the hydrology of saline lakes in the Great Basin …
A big southern Nevada sewage pumping facility failed last year,
spewing an estimated 500,000 gallons of wastewater and leaking
into a creek that leads toward the Lake Mead reservoir on the
Colorado River, a television station investigation found.
Officials want to spend $40 million to rehabilitate the Clark
County Water Reclamation District wastewater lift station,
where the January 2020 spill was blamed on a corroded
underground pipe, KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reported.
On Monday, President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion
bipartisan infrastructure bill, legislation that is expected to
send more than $4 billion to Nevada. The funds are earmarked to
address a variety of different infrastructure needs, including
roads, public transportation and cybersecurity. … Under
the bill, over the next five years, Nevada could receive
about $405 million to fund water projects that focus on
everything from fixing aging infrastructure to ensuring access
to clean drinking water.
Two and a half years after signing a deal aimed at averting a
damaging crisis along the Colorado River, water officials from
California, Arizona and Nevada are discussing plans to take
even less water from the shrinking river and leave it in Lake
Mead in an effort to prevent the reservoir from falling to
dangerously low levels. … For California, the deal would mean
participating in water reductions prior to Lake Mead reaching
levels that would otherwise trigger mandatory cuts.
Approximately 40 million people rely on the Colorado River for
water, 5% of them, or 2 million are in Nevada. However, the
state gets only 1.8% of the river’s water. How did this happen?
In 1922, Nevada signed onto the Colorado River Compact. It
divided the river between the upper basin (part of Arizona,
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the lower basin
(the rest of Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico).
… Nevada getting the least, while more than half of the
water goes to two states: California and Colorado.
An estimated 40 million people rely on water that originates in
the Colorado River Basin, but the river can no longer keep up
with demand, and it’s raising serious questions about the
future of water in the west. Surrounded by bright orange
pumpkins and empty shanks of corn outside his store east of
Pueblo, Shane Milberger surveys his field.
Andy Mattern knew exactly what he was looking for as he scanned
the receding edges of Lake Mendocino. Finally, he spotted the
tops of a handful of wooden stakes protruding from the mud and
bird droppings along the shoreline. Cut from virgin redwood
almost a century earlier, those stakes had been driven into the
ground by his grandfather, Lorenzo Fracchia, to support his
grapevines. That was early in the 20th century, when there was
no lake. Coyote Valley was home to a vibrant young settlement
of immigrants from northern Italy…
States in the lower Colorado River basin are developing a $100
million plan that will leave more water in Lake Mead over the
next couple of years. The goal is to keep the lake from hitting
a critical level that would leave the reservoir more vulnerable
to rapid decline. … The negotiations between Nevada,
Arizona, California and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for
additional reductions in water use come just months
after the federal government declared Lake Mead’s
first water shortage.
Camille Touton of Nevada was confirmed by the Senate on
Thursday to be commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, which
oversees water management of the Colorado River in Western
states. Democratic and Republican senators approved President
Joe Biden’s nominee on a voice vote. Touton, of Filipino
ancestry, moved as a child to Nevada.
In the arid West, saline lakes and their wetlands form an
irreplaceable network of habitats that support millions of
migrating shorebirds, waterfowl and other waterbirds throughout
their annual travels. These lakes and their wetlands – from
emergent marshes to playas and mudflats – are part of the
habitat mosaic essential to many bird species. Saline lakes are
sometimes referred to as terminal lakes because they are
situated at the bottom of a watershed basin. -Written by Marcelle Shoop, Audubon’s Saline Lakes
Program Director.
As world leaders meet in Scotland this week to discuss efforts
to address the climate crisis, experts are urging greater focus
on adapting to fundamental shifts in the planet’s water
supplies — and they’re pointing to the Colorado River as a
prime example. The river, a vital water source for about 40
million people from Denver to Los Angeles, has continued to
shrink and send reservoirs declining toward critically low
levels after years of extremely dry conditions compounded by
hotter temperatures. … [T]he river’s plight stands out as one
of the world’s starkest cases of a major water source that is
being ravaged by the altered climate…
While Las Vegas residents watch nervously as the water level
falls at Lake Mead, our fellow Nevadans are also seeing the
alarming effects of climate change on Lake Tahoe. In both
cases, it’s a call for action on reducing global warming.
Southern Nevadans are well aware of the situation at Lake Mead,
which has reached historically low levels, but they may not be
as familiar with the problems at Lake Tahoe. In a nutshell,
climate change has disrupted weather patterns there to the
point of causing the lake to drop below its natural rim
…
Farmers in Pinal County, Arizona, knew they were taking a risk
nearly two decades ago when they agreed to be among the first
people to lose water from the Colorado River if there were a
shortage. … But in the Southwest’s arid landscape, it is no
longer certain how much people can rely on the Colorado River.
A 22-year megadrought and growing demands across the Colorado
River Basin have depleted the river, pushing Western reservoirs
to historic lows and triggering the first-ever federally
declared water shortages. For Western states, this means cuts.
Growers in the West have persisted through the ups and downs of
dry years for a long time, but a two-decades-long trend of
drought in the region is now entrenching itself with no clear
end in sight. This year is unlikely to bring any major relief.
Forecasters say this winter will be shaped by “La Niña,”…Its
effects are hardly guaranteed, but typically mean a colder,
wetter winter for the northwestern portion of the country, and
a warmer, drier winter in the Southwest. The dividing line
often falls in the middle of Colorado.
A new online platform launched yesterday that uses satellites
to estimate water consumed by crops and evapotranspiration
across the West. Called OpenET, the platform makes water
management data available in 17 western states. Data on the
amount of water used in agriculture has been fragmented and
often expensive, keeping it out of the hands of many farmers
and decision-makers. OpenET hopes to allow users to easily view
and download important water data.
This past week, California declared a statewide drought
emergency. It follows the first-ever federal shortage
declaration on the Colorado River, triggering cuts to water
supplies in the Southwest. The Colorado is the lifeblood of the
region. It waters some of the country’s fastest-growing cities,
nourishes some of our most fertile fields and powers $1.4
trillion in annual economic activity.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Southern Nevada on
Monday and is scheduled to talk about climate change and
investing in climate resilience. … Harris is expected to
emphasize that water shortages have a ripple effect on U.S.
farmers, food supply, and economy – and that climate change
will continue to make extreme weather including droughts and
heat more frequent, costly, and harmful, according to the White
House communications team.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36
inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and
its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and
Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin.
Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the
Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and
wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin
Area Office.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
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.
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 the country of 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.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Nevada Water provides an
overview of the history of water development and use in Nevada.
It includes sections on Nevada’s water rights laws, the history
of the Truckee and Carson rivers, water supplies for the Las
Vegas area, groundwater, water quality, environmental issues and
today’s water supply challenges.
The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people and 4
million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000
square miles in the southwestern United States. The 32-page
Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River covers the history of the
river’s development; negotiations over division of its water; the
items that comprise the Law of the River; and a chronology of
significant Colorado River events.
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.
This issue of Western Water examines the challenges facing state,
federal and tribal officials and other stakeholders as they work
to manage terminal lakes. It includes background information on
the formation of these lakes, and overviews of the water quality,
habitat and political issues surrounding these distinctive bodies
of water. Much of the information in this article originated at
the September 2004 StateManagement Issues at Terminal Water
Bodies/Closed Basins conference.
