After ‘once-in-a-generation’ funding helped save Colorado River water, an uncertain future for conservation
… The Imperial Irrigation District uses more water from the Colorado River than any other single entity – farm district, city, or otherwise – from Wyoming to Mexico. As climate change shrinks the river’s supplies, its biggest users are facing increasing pressure to cut back on their demand. … Over the course of three years, [the federal government] agreed to send more than $500 million to the district to use less water and leave it in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir. That money comes from the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Water leaders in the West and Washington D.C. alike have lauded the effort as a pivotal way to boost the reservoir, which has dropped to all-time low levels in recent years. Similar spending has saved water on farms and tribal land across the region. It has also made city utilities more efficient. But now, on the cusp of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, those who use the river’s water are worried that funding could disappear.
Other Colorado River articles:
- Arizona Capitol Times: Colorado River conference ‘mixed bag’ for Arizona water officials
- The Salt Lake Tribune: Cracking a Utah mystery: How much of the state’s water simply disappears into the air?
- Los Angeles Times: In the dust of the Coachella Valley, residents push for a park along the shrinking Salton Sea
- Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.): CVWD OKs $39M grant from feds to treat sewage to irrigate local fields. Will rates go up?
