We recognize that over the past twenty-plus years there is simply far less water flowing into the Colorado River system than the amount that leaves it, and that we have effectively run out of storage to deplete, the states wrote. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Dan Charles for NPR
30 water suppliers pledge to address Colorado River shortage - Los Were in a very fortunate situation here in Albuquerque to have two different and distinct sources of supply.. Ever since the late-2000s, the last time that water supplies in Colorado River reservoirs reached critically low levels, the biggest water users in Arizona, California, and Nevada have been stashing water in Lake Mead, in preparation for another emergency to come and in an attempt to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the region's water . Cities use roughly 20% of the Colorado River's water, while agriculture uses approximately 80%. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs. "It's very early planting," he says. KGNUs Alexis Kenyon spoke with Dr. Jack Schmidt the director of the Center of Colorado River Studies at Utah State University about what a shrinking Colorado River means for everyone and everything it sustains. Cardenas said the prospect of a 10 percent cut to the regions $5 billion agricultural economy would mean serious economic pain for a community that already suffers from high unemployment. The California proposal makes a constructive effort to uphold the Law of the River while making substantial efforts to protect the Colorado River system with voluntary reductions far beyond Californias legal obligations, JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, wrote in the introduction to the plan. They also know that this crisis is so severe that famers in the Imperial Valley will have to cut back, too. It is just in the wrong places. The proposal begins with a 400,000 acre-foot cut, as previously offered, and continues with additional reductions as the reservoir declines toward levels where power generation would be threatened. In the last few years, a new force has emerged: From the Western Slope of the Rockies to Southern California, a proliferation of private investors like Greenstone have descended upon isolated communities, scouring the driest terrain in the United States to buy coveted water rights.
It's the thirstiest crop in the US south-west. Will the drought put Editing by Nick Macfie, Trump accuser defends rape claim after judge rejects Trump's mistrial request, Biden calls for meeting as US to run short of cash June 1, Biden urges Republicans take debt default off table, warns interest rates would jump, American Airlines pilots authorize a strike mandate, Donald Trump arrives in Scotland for short golfing trip, UK inflation expectations ease as BoE considers next rate hike, ACLU sues Montana House Speaker for silencing transgender legislator, Kuwait again dissolves reinstated parliament by decree, Bolsonaro steals show at Brazil's biggest farm fair. But despite the dismal forecast for the future of water on the Colorado, some conservationists are hoping to return at least a portion of the delta to its former glory. Colorado is next (3.8 million acre-feet), followed by Arizona (2.8 million acre-feet), Utah (1.7 million acre-feet), Wyoming (1.04 million acre-feet), New Mexico (0.84 million acre-feet) and Nevada (0.30 million acre-feet). In September, Nasdaq and CME Group, the worlds largest derivatives marketplace, announced plans to open a futures market for California water, joining it with commodities like Brent crude oil and soybeans. The reality is we have an overallocated river, said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest water supplier in the country. Lake Mead was at 100% capacity in mid-1999. Bunk said the two largest reservoirs on the river Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona state line and Lake Powell formed by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Arizona-Utah line are at unprecedented low levels. The Western model is a sort of comprehensive, consensus-based public discussion, and its worked very well, said Bruce Babbitt, a former governor of Arizona and secretary of the interior during the Clinton administration. Lake Powell in Big Water, Utah. His great-grandfather came to the valley from Sweden in the 1920s. The State of Colorado could actually buy the water from them, Mr. Libecap said. Why do we need to take additional actions now when there was so much water through all these recent storms?. Beef cattle are the top agricultural product of Imperial County. Demand for Colorado River water picked up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Similar deals have been struck in the past, although none involved so much money. A letter signed by the six states showed they all recognised the need for a change in operating procedures for the Colorado River and deliveries from it, she added. The Evergreen State takes the top spot again in the U.S. News Best States ranking on the strength of its tech sector and other industries. More frustrating for those trying to solve the Wests dire water problems, if water runs out, because of those generous rights granted a century ago, the metropolises will have to turn off their taps before the old farms. Feb. 11, 2023 Updated: Feb. 11, 2023 10:50 a.m. Gary Libecap, a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who specializes in water issues, believes that movement of water necessarily generates a public good, whatever form it takes. Having a seat at the table means working with every tribe to learn their specific water rights and needs.. Irrigation canals that are currently simple ditches in the dirt could be lined with concrete, to prevent water from seeping into the ground.
US rivers and lakes are shrinking for a surprising reason: cows The system worked as long as there was enough to go around, said Mr. Libecap, who recently advised the State of Colorado on its growing water problems. If severe, extreme drought conditions continued, then its easier for them to sell additional cuts, said Michael J. Cohen, a senior researcher with the Pacific Institute and an expert on the Colorado River. Although it originates just miles from the headwaters of the Colorado River, the Arkansas River flows east instead of west, meandering nearly 1,500 miles across the Great Plains before joining the Mississippi River.
U.S. states struggle to share dwindling waters of Colorado River Along both banks, a few hundred acres produce lush alfalfa and cotton, amid one of the more arid and menacing environments in North America. Mr. Eklund secured an account in Lake Powell. This years meeting of water recipients begins Wednesday at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. In 1922, a landmark agreement called the Colorado River Compact divided the river among two groups of states: the upper basin and the lower basin. Agricultural water use makes up nearly 80% of total water consumption in the Colorado River basin, with roughly half of that going toward the production of alfalfa hay, according to a 2020.
Key Colorado River reservoirs unlikely to refill in our lifetimes - Los Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. Once criticized for being a profligate user of water, fast-growing Phoenix has taken some major steps including banking water in underground reservoirs, slashing per-capita use, and recycling wastewater in anticipation of the day when the flow from the Colorado River ends.
Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico - US News Colorado's river economy worth $9 billion - High Country News California on Tuesday submitted its own proposal for how reductions should play out in coming years, depending on the elevation in Lake Mead. The price of the longer outing includes lunch. If we can get water users within places like the San Juan Basin to agree to shortage sharing agreements, then theres no need for strict priority administration, he said. Kightlinger, along with many other water experts and officials, says cuts of this magnitude and severity have to be shared, rather than doled out according to seniority.
But on top of that, theres a problem with the rules, Cohen said. Other fields are covered with alfalfa or grass that will become feed for cattle. A field of alfalfa, freshly cut, dries in the sun. Youve got two drivers exacerbating the problem.
Arizona city cuts off a neighborhoods water supply amid drought. In an online presentation last spring outlining WAMs long-term strategy, Marc Robert, the chief operating officer, professed his belief that U.S. consumers would be compelled to use more wisely in coming years.
5 Major Consumers of Water That Might Surprise You Mr. John Hernandez, a Mexican-American activist, says that there's also a question of fairness if most of the money that the irrigation district gets for using less water potentially hundreds of millions of dollars each year gets passed out to just a few hundred farms. Lake Mead, seen here on April 3, has plummeted in recent years amid an epic drought.
Lake Mead: Feds will release more Colorado River water downstream after On a map, this is the very top of the Gulf of California.
And youre still seeing continued growth. Selling the rights to a Rocky Mountain trout stream or a hayfield dating from the pioneer era to nonlocal interests, especially those seeking to turn a profit, has the potential to be seen as auctioning state patrimony. "The droughts that we are seeing are becoming that much more severe because of the temperature component, they're warmer," Bolinger said. A few years ago a firm called Greenstone, a subsidiary of a subsidiary of the financial-services conglomerate MassMutual, quietly bought the rights to most of Cibolas water. It certainly seems that we have to reset our expectations for what we might be trying to get out of the river, said Lpez, a former Reclamation commissioner. Almonds and Walnuts According to a UNESCO Institute for Water Education study, shelled almonds and walnuts were among the top three most water-intensive foods. In reality, nobody really expects cities to get cut off completely. Going by established law, Leimgruber says, those latecomers would be cut off from Colorado River water completely before the Imperial Irrigation District gives up any of the water to which it's entitled. The Colorado River, which provides drinking water to 40 million people in seven U.S. states, is drying up, straining a water distribution pact amid the worst drought in 12 centuries, exacerbated . Native American tribes werent included and were referenced in one sentence: Nothing in this compact shall be construed as affecting the obligations of the United States of America to Indian tribes.. Whether its fallowing fields, upgrading irrigation canals, or modernizing farming methods, Flores said, decisions made now will have lasting consequences.. The U.S. A resilient future on the Colorado must have tribal sovereignty at the forefront, said Daryl Vigil, Jicarilla Apache Nation water administrator and a staunch advocate for tribal inclusion in water management issues. Farmland meets the desert, separated by an irrigation canal, near Fruita, Colo.CreditNick Cote for The New York Times. In the last 20 years, tensions over increasingly scarce Colorado River water supplies have been rising in step with climate change and global temperatures. Theyre going to make big bucks off the water, and whos going to suffer? she said. Seven arid states comprise the Colorado River BasinColorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Californiaand all exceed the national average for farm water use, with the exception of Wyoming, which uses 1.5 acre-feet of water per acre, in line with the national average. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. It will be baled into hay and fed to cattle such as those in the feedlot at the far end of the field. An acre-foot (1,233 cubic meters) of water is generally considered enough to supply two urban households per year. Near its headwaters, in the farming community of Nathrop, Colo., I met up with Greg Felt, a county commissioner. At which point, if private entities like WAM had stores of water in Lake Powell ready to sell, they would suddenly be worth quite a bit more. In theory, a market-based approach discourages wasteful low-value water uses, especially in agriculture, which consumes more than 70 percent of the water in the Southwest, and creates incentives for private enterprise to become involved. But those who deal closely with water will tell you this is false. But those plans, say members of Colorado's outdoor recreation, real estate, and tourism industries, jeopardize a $9 billion dollar economy that hinges on healthy rivers - and supports more . Researchers at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, N.M., works with alfalfa on July 22, 2020. A historic influx of funding for infrastructure and drought response could also help New Mexico and other basin states reduce water use and prepare for a drier future. Light shines off the water flowing in a section of the Central Arizona Project on Oct . Last month, 30 agencies that supply water to homes and businesses throughout the region joined the Las Vegas area in restricting the planting of decorative lawns that no one walks on. Due to critically low current reservoir conditions, and the potential for worsening drought which threatens critical infrastructure and public health and safety operational strategies must be revisited, Bunk said. The bureau forecasts that for the first time, Lake Mead will operate in a Tier 2 shortage condition starting in 2023. Marc Catlin, a third-generation farmer who represents western Colorado in the General Assembly, said, A farmers property is their 401(k).. The Grand Valley Ditch, running through Grand Junction, Colo., diverts water from the Colorado River to irrigate farms. Reclamation would perhaps not have been able to fulfill its contractual obligations to folks like the Navajo Nation and Jicarilla Apache and others that depend on water out of Navajo.. Everybody got a little, he added. Theyd have to have a storage account of their own in a federal reservoir, and from my perspective thats a nonstarter, Mr. Mueller said. Much of the West, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas, was made by moving water. Its important for us to invest in things like outdoor water conservation and reuse, Morris said. One draft plan that's circulating among irrigation districts proposes annual payments of $1,500 per acre almost $1.4 billion in total in exchange for cutting water use by roughly 20 percent on almost a million acres of farmland. Utilities, which in previous dry years bought water from farmers, found they could no longer afford it. In Colorado, when we look up at the rocky mountains, its difficult to imagine how much those snowy white peaks mean to the rest of the world. Running southwest from the Rocky Mountains to Mexicos Gulf of California, the river runs through seven states in the American West. However, the same water could also flow where water often flows: toward the highest bidder. The water tower in El Centro, the county seat of Imperial County, notes a geographic fact that shapes this area's destiny. Theres a problem of aridification. 24, 2023 at 11:45 PM PDT. Yeah. Much of the money goes to pay for projects that conserve water. The past two years have also seen healthy winter snow accumulation in the Rockies only to have runoff levels into Lake Powell that were a fraction of normal, as terrain dried out by the warming climate absorbed more of the water before it can reach the reservoir. Most of the water in the 1,450-mile-long river comes from Colorado, and as that states top water official from 2013 to 2017, James Eklund directed the creation of a comprehensive long-term plan to address climate change, the first by a state in the West. In exchange, San Diego pays the irrigation district more than $100 million each year. "What happened today was a step forward," said Kevin Moran, a water policy specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in June told the seven states that are part of the Colorado River Basin Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to determine how to use at least 15% less water next year, or have restrictions imposed on them. This allowed water to flow through the canal powered solely by gravity. Negotiators have had a bit of help from nature to start the year. Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico, Researchers at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, N.M., works with alfalfa on July 22, 2020. But they will also be looking at rebalancing water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead, two federally owned reservoirs that hold water to use in case of extreme drought. "Something is not right when that's going on in the neighborhood.". Geography was the key. After heavy rains in 1905, the raging Colorado burst out of its normal channel, into the unfinished construction project, and carved a new, uncontrolled path into the Imperial Valley, creating an enormous lake called the Salton Sea. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. U.S. cities that receive river water include Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. For the second time in six months, states that depend on the Colorado River to sustain their farms and cities have failed to reach an agreement on restricting water usage, setting up the prospect of the federal government making unilateral cuts this year. Nevada, Arizona and Mexico will all receive less water from the Colorado River next year because of rapidly-declining reservoirs, the Interior Department announced on Aug. 16. Steve Benson returned to the family business, Benson Farms in Brawley, Calif., after a career in engineering and real estate. Instead, farmers are hoping for a deal in which the government will pay them to use less water. When I reached Holly Irwin, a county supervisor who lives in Cibola, by phone a couple of weeks after my visit, she was angry. The Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California.
'The brink of disaster': 2023 is a critical year for the Colorado River