Western Water: Looking Ahead
The final in a series of excerpts published on Aquafornia from “An Era of New Partnerships on the Colorado River,” the Water Education Foundation’s Nov./Dec. 2013 issue of Western Water, written by Sue McClurg, are included below:
It has been more than a decade since the Colorado River Basin states and the federal government began forging a series of water management agreements, including the 2003 interim surplus guidelines in the Lower Basin and the 2007 reservoir operations and shortage guidelines for the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin states. Such collaboration will be increasingly important given the current and projected hydrology. The system’s storage has declined from nearly 100 percent in 1999 to roughly 45 percent today. And experts say that trend line appears to be going in the same direction. James Eklund, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, said the impetus for the states and other stakeholders to come to the table has been the Colorado River Basin’s hydrology. “The hydrology is forcing us to the table to discuss things. Everybody in this room is knowledgeable of the hydrology on the river.”
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