Representatives of California, Arizona and Nevada are urging the Trump administration to take a different approach in confronting the problems of the water-starved Colorado River. As Trump’s appointees inherit the task of writing new rules for dealing with the river’s chronic water shortages, the three states are raising several concerns they want to see addressed. One of their top asks: consider fixing or overhauling Glen Canyon Dam. … If the levels of Lake Powell continue to decline and reach critically low levels, water could be released only through four 8-foot-wide steel tubes. … Last year, federal officials discovered damage inside those four tubes that could severely restrict water flow when reservoir levels are low.

Other Colorado River news:

• CNN: Why Trump is already worrying the people in charge of the Colorado River
• Colorado Public Radio: Hurd working ‘behind the scenes’ to unfreeze funds for critical water rights purchase
• Arizona Department of Water Resources: News release: ADWR expresses support for reintroduction of historic tribal water rights settlement
• Arizona’s Family (Phoenix): Bill to ratify ‘historic’ water rights settlement reintroduced in Congress
• Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming was once a pioneer in cloud seeding. Now the future is uncertain
• Newsweek: Donald Trump loses battle over Lake Mead
• NASA: Blog: Baja California’s arid delta
• ABC7 (Los Angeles): Rare look inside underground portion of Colorado River Aqueduct that was built almost 100 years ago entirely by hand