Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Risks ease for Colorado River reservoirs after wet winter, but long-term challenges loom
After a wet year and a push to conserve water in the Southwest, federal officials say the risk of the Colorado River’s reservoirs declining to critically low levels has substantially eased for the next couple of years. The Biden administration’s top water and climate officials said the rise in reservoir levels and the ongoing conservation efforts will provide some breathing room for the region’s water managers to come up with new long-term rules to address the river’s chronic overallocation problem and the worsening effects of climate change. … The states proposed the short-term cuts to deal with water shortages through 2026, when the current rules for managing the river expire. The Bureau of Reclamation released its final analysis of the water reductions on Tuesday …
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- U.S. Department of the Interior – News Release: Biden-Harris administration announces major milestone to protect short-term stability of Colorado River Basin