Preliminary year-end Colorado River numbers are stark. Total basin-wide storage for the last two years has stabilized, oscillating between 30 and 27 maf (million acre-feet), where storage sits at the start of 2025[1]. That is lower than any sustained period since the River’s reservoirs were built (Fig. 1). Stable is better than declining, but we did not succeed in rebuilding reservoir storage during 2024’s excellent snowpack but modest inflow. Although reservoir storage significantly increased after the gangbuster 2023 snowmelt year, we have not protected the storage gained in 2024 when inflow to Lake Powell was ~85% of normal from a 130% of normal snowpack. We can’t rely on frequent repeats of 2023; we must do better at increasing storage in modest inflow years like 2024.

Other Colorado River articles:

• The Colorado Sun: Colorado’s snowpack is average for January despite near-record warm conditions
• Summit Daily (Frisco, Colo.): Federal government says land exchange proposed by billionaire in Grand and Summit counties is complete
• KAWC (Yuma, Ariz.): Arizona Gov. Hobbs addresses cost of living, Colorado River water, border security and more in 2025 State of the State
• SFGate: ‘A bit ridiculous’: National park activity fee could go up threefold
• U.S. Bureau of Reclamation news release: Reclamation names Genevieve Johnson deputy regional director