CNN Deep uncertainty looms over the Colorado River and the 40 million people who depend on it for their water supply as the basin enters a critical year that could determine its future. The water level in Lake Powell has fallen about a foot this year and stands 33 feet above the threshold where Glen Canyon Dam could no longer produce power. Close to 40 million people use water from the Colorado River. Beginning Monday . But that flow of water is now in question, because the Colorado River doesn't have enough water for everyone. 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. Dan Charles for NPR Just kind of a nightmare, Mr. Its the rural counties going up against big money., Grady Gammage Jr., a spokesman for Greenstone, said, In my view there is enough water both to sustain a significant agricultural economy on the river and to support urban growth in central Arizona.. 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. "We have the laws in place, you know, when water comes anywhere west of the Mississippi, it's first-come, first-served, and that's how it's always been," he says. 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. The water will flow down the Colorado River system and eventually hit Pearce Ferry by April 26, and more water will flow into Lake Mead from April 26 to April 30. Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus for a conference starting Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Las Vegas, about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River. 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.. Under existing Colorado River agreements, that condition means starting next year, Nevada will have its water allotment cut by 25,000 acre-feet (8 percent). I have seen time and again the wisdom of using incentives that attract private sector investment and innovation, Mr. Eklund said. All rights reserved. The Best Whitewater Rafting in Colorado - US News & World Report The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922, just 10 years after New Mexico became a state. Greg Felt, a county commissioner, at a dried-up alfalfa farm near Nathrop, Colo. acquisition of the Owens River rights by the City of Los Angeles. So it's been a high market. The Interior Department had asked states to contribute plans by Tuesday for how to voluntarily reduce water usage by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet or up to one-third of the rivers annual average flow. He remains unidentified. It will be baled into hay and fed to cattle such as those in the feedlot at the far end of the field. The High Flow Experiment and its gushing water will ultimately decrease Lake Powell levels by 4.5 feet from April 24 to April 27. Lurking in those details, though, is a bigger and more worrisome question. Farmland meets the desert, separated by an irrigation canal, near Fruita, Colo.CreditNick Cote for The New York Times. New Mexico still uses only about half of its allotment under the compact each year. 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. Californias cuts dont kick in until later essentially a gamble on good hydrology once again helping us avoid conflict by letting us use more water in the short term, Fleck wrote on his blog. Back in the 1920s, they knew that if they didnt reach agreement, there were going to be winners and losers, so with a lot of wrangling and quarreling, they eventually agreed to agree, said Russell George, a former state representative from western Colorado who founded the Interbasin Compact Committee, a statewide governmental body devoted to seeking consensus on water issues. It's about the future of the whole valley. How dry is the Colorado River Basin? We explain it in 5 numbers These farms use more Colorado River water than 2 states combined - NPR Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. The event theme, A New Century for the Colorado River Compact, marks 100 years since a 1922 interstate agreement divvied water shares among interests in the seven states now home to 40 million people and millions of farmed acres. Flows during the past 23-year period are the lowest in the past 120 years and (among) the lowest in more than 1,200 years, Bunk told the webinar audience. Light shines off the water flowing in a section of the Central Arizona Project on Oct . The same issues could resurface next year if officials look to the New Mexico reservoir as an emergency supply for downstream users. "And there's not enough time to litigate these issues," added Hayes, a former top climate aide to President Joe Biden. "Instead of eight cuttings of alfalfa, we might turn off the water in the summer and dry up the field, and let it come back in the fall," Benson says. In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River But Mr. Eklund would like it to be. Many see the compact as a safeguard isolating the river from the market. Steve Benson says a further cut of 20 percent is feasible, but it does involve costs. Know where your water comes from. The water tower in El Centro, the county seat of Imperial County, notes a geographic fact that shapes this area's destiny. 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. The term consultation gets thrown around in the basin a whole lot, Vigil said. The proponents of water markets say they are not in it just for the money. T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman who died in 2019, was an early evangelist of water buys. "Six of the seven basin states are playing catch-up to reduce water use from the Colorado River, which is absolutely critically needed after 20 years of drought and the impacts of climate change," Moran told Reuters. These fields owe their existence to fortune-seeking land speculators and engineers who, starting in 1901, dug a canal to bring water to this valley from the Colorado River. 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. Many call conservation crucial. As of Wednesday morning, the surge of water released from the Glen Canyon Dam has reached Lake Mead, KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. Sprinklers deliver vital Colorado River water to a field of celery in California's Imperial Valley. Federal Water Shortage Limits Loom Over Colorado River And All - NPR Florida Keys Electric Cooperative. The Imperial Irrigation District draws enough water from the river each year to cover 470,000 acres with 5 feet of water. 2002, 2018 and 2021 are the most intense dry periods on record for the basin. 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. 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.. However, the same water could also flow where water often flows: toward the highest bidder. Of all the accomplishments of moving and storing water in the West from Hoover Dam to the mammoth Colorado-Big Thompson reservoir network none may be more impressive than a yellowing, sparsely worded 13-page document called the Colorado River Compact. The Imperial Irrigation District draws enough water from the river each year to cover 470,000 acres with 5 feet of water. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. We stand behind the priority system on the river, and we also understand that theres painful cuts that people need to make. 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. Who are the top 5 consumers of the water of the Colorado River? Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. If states, cities, big farms and utilities were able to buy water freely, especially across state lines, the allocations of the compact could be obviated and the governmental power to manage the fate of the river eroded. 30 water suppliers pledge to address Colorado River shortage - Los If someone was there to short water, they wouldnt be there anymore, he said. But the basins water is essential for the states largest city: Albuquerque. It may feel like California is flush with water at the moment, after a winter of historic storms that replenished drought-starved lakes and left the . 24, 2023 at 11:45 PM PDT. "You have a lot of leverage if you have a lot of water.". A wet winter is now prompting federal officials to release more water downstream into the reservoir. Remarkable Drop in Colorado River Water Use a Sign of Climate Colorado's river economy worth $9 billion - High Country News Thats the dilemma looking at how we can reduce demand with as soft a blow as possible, Hamman said. The emergence of open markets could outpace the negotiations. The Colorado River provides water to more than 40 million people across seven southwestern states, 29 tribal nations and Mexico - and a lot of major cities in those states are heavily dependent on . Hernandez says that the crisis on the Colorado River provides a time for the predominantly white people who've claimed that water and the wealth and power that came with it to share more of it. Florida Public Utilities, a part of Chesapeake Utilities. In 2006, Pueblo West agreed to irrigate and revive the land. This novel introduces readers to Victoria Nash who is just a teenager in the 1940s, but she runs the household on her familys peach farm in the ranch town of Iola, Colorado. California on Tuesday submitted its own proposal for how reductions should play out in coming years, depending on the elevation in Lake Mead. They require an estimated 2,126 and 1,226 gallons of water respectively to produce a pound of food. What is new is for private investors in this case an investment fund in Phoenix, with owners on the East Coast to exert that power. Felt said, The water came off the land and it dried up, a common process known as buy and dry. Pueblo West, which was supposed to revegetate with native shortgrass, instead subdivided it into 40-acre parcels. KGNU is made possible by listeners like you! The negotiations have the potential to redefine rules that for the last century have governed one of the most valuable economic resources in the United States. IID laid claim to water from the Colorado River before cities like Phoenix and Tucson showed up. Which States Consume the Most Water? | ERC It's now more salty than the ocean, heavily contaminated with agricultural runoff, and shrinking. Amid Dire Colorado River Outlook, States Plan to Tap Their Lake Mead But Colorado River and reservoir management was designed during a much wetter period. (Anthony Jackson/The Albuquerque Journal via AP), Trump PAC Complaint Against DeSantis Rejected in Florida, North Carolina AG Urges Public Safety, Law Enforcement Bills, 7 Bodies Found During Search for Missing Oklahoma Teens. LCRA's mission is to enhance the lives of the Texans it serves through water stewardship, energy and community service. Whats being done? Everybody got a little, he added. Interior Department has said it will engage with tribes in the basin as parties hammer out some management details of the compact that are set to expire after 2026. Agricultural interests got the biggest share. "We have a situation where some of the water rights holders in California are saying, 'We're not willing to give up more water, and we think we have legal rights and we're willing to go to court if we have to'," said David Hayes, a lecturer at Stanford University Law School. "If you get to a point where you're at dead pool, you have nothing at all. We went harder and faster than anyone and let the market rip, said Stuart Kells, a professor at La Trobe Business School in Melbourne. 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). Demand management, as the policy is known, is an attempt to solve the so-called wrong places problem and free up water from agriculture and reroute it to urban uses and conservation. Californias agricultural water markets a mosaic of online exchanges connecting farmers and water brokers are considered a potential model for the West: fast, flexible and responsive to extreme weather. 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. During the past two decades of drought, and particularly in recent years, the rivers flow has declined, but states continue to consume more than the river provides, based on a framework established a century ago. In reality, nobody really expects cities to get cut off completely. The proposal by the six states Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming aims to protect the major reservoirs in Lake Powell and Lake Mead from falling below critical levels, such as when the dams would no longer be able to generate electricity or at dead pool, when water would effectively be blocked from flowing out of these lakes. But Lpez said the additional release could have jeopardized regional water supplies. Felt drove me in his pickup to a wide spot in a two-lane highway where trucks towing horses and inflatable river rafts whizzed past. The rules governing the system are not sustainable.. Surge of Colorado River water reaches Lake Mead - ktla.com 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. Strategies include fallowing fields and making irrigation more efficient. And it had to be a pretty good process, because it lasted 100 years.. If this water is to be sold to anyone outside the Grand Valley, then its gone, said Mr. George of the Interbasin Compact Committee. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Colorado River tributaries in New Mexico bring water to the alfalfa fields in the Four Corners and the forested hills of the Gila wilderness in the southwestern part of the state. Often, the best land in the West is not along rivers, so you needed to move water.. 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. 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. In 2021, water managers considered releasing even more water from Navajo Reservoir to help water levels in downstream reservoirs. These farmers, in Imperial County, currently draw more water from the Colorado River than all of Arizona and Nevada combined. But the entire region must work together, Lpez said, to avoid more mandatory cuts. In a general, larger picture, its a national park, and the way the river was before the dam came in has changed a lot, Tusso said. Hamby says the district is looking to make a deal. A prolonged 21-year warming and drying trend is pushing the . And crisis drives change.. Restoring the Colorado: Bringing New Life to a Stressed River Running southwest from the Rocky Mountains to Mexicos Gulf of California, the river runs through seven states in the American West. The ongoing drought is a stark reminder that water conservation is not just smart planning but an absolute necessity to save the life of the Colorado River, Amelia Flores, chairwoman of Colorado River Indian Tribes, said ahead of the event. Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, is skeptical.
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