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Topic: Colorado River

Overview April 24, 2014

Colorado River

Colorado RiverServing as the “lifeline of the Southwest,” and one of the most heavily regulated rivers in the world, the Colorado River provides water to 35 million people and more than 4 million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000 square miles.

From its headwaters northwest of Denver in the Rocky Mountains, the 1,450-mile long river and its tributaries pass through parts of seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico,  Nevada, Utah and Wyoming and is also used by the Republic of Mexico. Along the way, almost every drop of the Colorado River is allocated for use.

The Colorado River Basin is also home to a range of habitats and ecosystems from mountain to desert to ocean.

  • Read more
Aquafornia news September 4, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Front Range, Western Slope water heavyweights lay out arguments over Shoshone Power Plant ahead of state hearing

The points and counterpoints are in: Colorado’s water heavyweights have laid out their arguments about the future of a powerful Colorado River water right ahead of a state hearing in mid-September. A Western Slope coalition led by the Colorado River District and Front Range groups — Aurora Water, Colorado Springs Utilities, Denver Water and Northern Water — are debating a potential change to water rights tied to the Shoshone Power Plant in Glenwood Canyon. The influential water rights, owned by an Xcel Energy subsidiary, impact how water flows across the state. 

Other Colorado River news:

  • KTNV (Las Vegas, Nev.): Colorado River deadline approaches, states consider ’supply-driven’ framework
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news September 3, 2025 The Denver Post (Colo.)

Opinion: Colorado River negotiations will reach an impasse if Colorado won’t face cuts

… Arizona, California, and Nevada have put forth a Post 2026 operational proposal that requires mandatory, certain and verifiable water-use reductions of additional billions of gallons of water by the three Lower Basin states. To the contrary, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico have not agreed, nor have they proposed, any mandatory, certain and verifiable reductions in their water use. Not. One. Single. Gallon. Instead, they propose that water-use reductions needed to save the Colorado River come solely from Arizona, California and Nevada.
–Written by Tom Buschatzke, the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and chief Colorado River negotiator for Arizona.

Other Colorado River news:

  • Parker Pioneer (Ariz.): $2.65 million approved for Oxbow Bridge clean-up effort
  • Parker Pioneer (Ariz.): Storms cause major drop in water releases to protect Parker Dam
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news September 2, 2025 The Denver Post (Colo.)

Ten years after Gold King Mine spill, superfund cleanup is incomplete

Three million gallons of acidic mine drainage flooded into the Animas River basin 10 years ago, turning the southern Colorado river a mustard yellow and making international headlines. Caused by federal contractors working to treat pollution from the Gold King Mine, the accidental release of water laden with heavy metals prompted the creation of a Superfund site and a reckoning with lingering environmental harms from the area’s mining legacy, including hundreds of abandoned mines high in the San Juan mountains. A decade later, community members and Environmental Protection Agency staff are still grappling with the long-term cleanup of the area’s mines and tailings piles.

Other water contamination news:

  • Newsweek: Map shows thousands more areas where groundwater could be contaminated
  • Action News Now (Chico, Calif.): Tehama County Major Crimes Task Force seizes more than 5,000 marijuana plants, hazardous chemicals from illegal marijuana grow site
  • Science of the Total Environment: Pyrethroid-driven toxicity and its relationships with urban land use: Findings from 15 years of statewide monitoring in California watersheds
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news September 2, 2025 The Denver Post (Colo.)

Colorado River consensus is ‘tenuous’ 2 months before federal deadline

Colorado River is dimming as time runs out for the negotiators tasked with dividing up the shrinking river relied upon by 40 million people. “The path to success seems tenuous at this point,” Arizona’s negotiator, Tom Buschatzke, said in an interview this week with The Denver Post. “The discussions continue to revolve around the main issue that we’ve been struggling with for some time since these discussions started.” … Colorado’s negotiator, Becky Mitchell, said in a statement this week in response to Buschatzke’s comments that time is of the essence in the negotiations. The states have no option but to live within the means of the river, she said.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KUNC (Greeley, Colo.): Here’s how ‘dire’ predictions from the federal government could impact Colorado River negotiations
  • Newsweek: Lake Mead approaching ‘crunch time’ over water levels, rep says
  • The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Colo.): Hurd encouraged to seek Shoshone grant unfreezing by officials, water leaders
  • KLAS (Las Vegas, Nev.): Reduced river flow planned for Laughlin, Bullhead City to reduce caddisfly numbers
  • The Land Desk: Blog: Summer’s over; and it was a dry one
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 29, 2025 Nevada Current

Friday Top of the Scroll: As November deadline nears, Colorado River states ‘nowhere close to an agreement’

Amid tense negotiations over the Colorado River’s future, Nevada leaders came together Thursday to focus on the state’s strategy to meet the climate and drought crisis threatening Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. Democratic Rep. Susie Lee, whose district falls within the boundaries of Lake Mead and half of the Hoover Dam, brought together regional water and hydropower leaders to highlight mounting needs the state faces during her third annual Southern Nevada Water Summit at the Springs Preserve.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Las Vegas Sun (Nev.): Nevada warns of tough choices as Colorado River deadline approaches
  • Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nev.): ‘It’s crunch time’ to save Lake Mead as negotiations stall, Nevada leader says
  • The Ripon Advance (Washington): Ciscomani relaunches bipartisan caucus focused on Colorado River water scarcity
  • Aspen Public Radio (Colo.): A new river barrier in Garfield County will protect a rare fish and upgrade agriculture infrastructure
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 27, 2025 The Times-Independent (Moab, Utah)

Utah officials optimistic Colorado River deal can be reached

The seven states that depend on the Colorado River are racing against the clock to meet the 2026 deadline to determine how they will divvy up the dwindling water supply, with one caveat — they need to submit their proposals by Nov. 11. The current operating guidelines for the Colorado River are set to expire next year after a century. … Amy Haas, Executive Director of the Colorado River Authority of Utah, said she is optimistic they’ll meet that  November deadline.

Please note: An earlier version of this story appeared in yesterday’s Aquafornia and was revised by the publication to clarify quotes from sources, including those from Elizabeth Koebele, that the state of Utah is willing to do more to conserve Colorado River water, but has not said it was willing to take a reduction in how much it is allocated.

  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 27, 2025 AP News

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: To save precious Colorado River water, groups want government to weigh ‘beneficial use’

Earlier this year, several environmental groups sent a petition to the federal government with a seemingly simple message: Ensure that water from the imperiled Colorado River is not wasted and only being delivered for “reasonable” and “beneficial” uses. The organizations urged the Bureau of Reclamation to use its authority to curb water waste in the Lower Basin states: California, Arizona and Nevada. … The petitioning groups argue reducing water waste could help ensure the river has a sustainable future. But others worry cuts could bring hardship to farmers and consumers.

Other Colorado River news:

  • PBS News Hour: Video: California farms face pressure to boost efficiency as water supply declines
  • CBS Colorado: Colorado River Trail to close as wildlife officials remove invasive fish from Rocky Mountain National Park
  • KJCT (Grand Junction, Colo.): Warmer water temperature impact on local fish
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 26, 2025 The Times-Independent (Moab, Utah)

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Utah agrees on cuts from the Colorado River, the only Upper Basin state willing to budge

… [A]ccording to Elizabeth Koebele, a University of Nevada, Reno professor who studies the Colorado River, progress was made during closed-door meetings this month, with Utah finally agreeing to cut back on its water supply. The percentage of water Utah is willing to cut back on is still unknown, with Marc Stilson, deputy director of the Colorado River Authority, saying that’s the “heart of the negotiations.” Though Stilson said all seven states have shown interest in reducing their water intake, Koebele said Utah is the only Upper Basin state that’s willing to reduce its water rights — something the rest of the three other states haven’t shown interest in. [Please note: This article has since been removed from the newspaper's website].

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • St. George News (Utah): ‘We’re transforming our reputation’: Washington County outpaces Las Vegas in lawn replacement
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Opinion: A plan is taking shape to find Arizona more water. But will it work?
  • KAWC (Yuma, Ariz.): Local, state officials say drought and heat threats to Yuma ag, water
  • KLAS (Las Vegas, Nev.): Lake Mohave level going down as razorback sucker conservation work scheduled
  • Mohave Valley Daily News (Bullhead City, Ariz.): Fluctuating water levels hindering tourism along the Colorado River
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 25, 2025 The Desert Review (Brawley, Calif.)

Colorado River needs a snowy winter or more cuts coming

Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Water Manager Tina Shields began her report to the IID board Tuesday, Aug. 19, saying, “Hydrology never has good news, lately.” … California, therefore the Imperial Valley, is spared from mandatory cuts in 2026 under the Tier 1 shortage, maintaining its full allocation of 4.4 million acre-feet, due to its senior water rights. … If conditions worsen, further reductions could be triggered, potentially affecting all Lower Basin states. … She [Shields] said this year was the sixth-worst year in a 64-year recording. “We had a decent snowpack, but the dry soil and fire damage circumvented the runoff entering the reservoirs.”

Other Colorado River news:

  • Aspen Public Radio (Colo.): Here’s how ‘dire’ predictions from the federal government could impact Colorado River negotiations
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Opinion: Colorado River is careening to crisis again. There’s a better way
  • ABC15 (Phoenix, Ariz.): Coalition forms to protect Arizona’s water supply
  • The Journal (Cortez, Colo.): Colorado River Program’s new director ‘cautiously hopeful’ about interstate negotiations
  • KAWC (Yuma, Ariz.): Arizona Edition podcast: Climate change and ag in Yuma, Colorado River personhood, AWC CAMP
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 22, 2025 KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Arizona mayors unite to fight in Colorado River negotiations

Arizona cities are joining together under one banner to advocate for Arizona in ongoing Colorado River talks. Existing agreements determining Arizona’s allotted share of Colorado River water are set to expire next year. … CAP [Central Arizona Project] is the system that delivers Colorado River water throughout the state and is in partnership with the municipalities under the new coalition, branded Coalition for Protecting Arizona’s Lifeline. The goal of the new Arizona coalition is to unite Colorado River water users and showcase the state’s ongoing water conservation efforts.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Colorado Politics (Denver): Water power struggle: Upper basin states allege downstream ‘overuse’
  • Boulder City Review (Colo.): Walton: ‘Not great news on the water front’
  • Axios (Phoenix, Ariz.): WIFA evaluating 6 proposed water importation projects
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 22, 2025 KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)

Friday Top of the Scroll: The Colorado River is this tribe’s ‘lifeblood,’ now they want to give it the same legal rights as a person

… [T]he Colorado River Indian Tribes, often referred to as CRIT … are planning to establish legal personhood status for the Colorado River, giving it some of the same rights and protections a human could hold in court. No government, tribal or otherwise, has given these kinds of rights to the Colorado River before. … A Supreme Court decree, Arizona v. California, recognized CRIT as having the most senior water rights on the lower Colorado River, and among the most senior in the entire basin. That means CRIT has some of the most legally untouchable water rights along the lower half of the Colorado River.

Other tribal water news:

  • The Denver Gazette (Colo.): Native American tribes push for seat at Colorado water negotiations
  • Los Angeles Times: Trump backs huge Arizona copper mine as Apache win late reprieve to halt it
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 21, 2025 Hatch Magazine

Moving day for a rare Colorado trout

… The Uncompahgre strain of Colorado River cutthroat trout, which is unique to the upper Dolores River watershed in extreme southwest Colorado, lives in Wildcat Creek, and the fear on the part of biologists with Colorado Parks and Wildlife was that the Stoner Mesa Fire — which, as of Wednesday, August 20, had consumed almost 9,000 acres and was burning out of control — would not only have immediate impacts to the native fish, but also leave a lasting toxic legacy. So, ahead of the fire’s path, CPW work crews, along with biologists crews from the San Juan National Forest, electroshocked the remote reaches of Wildcat Creek and removed 266 native cutthroats.

Other anadromous fish restoration news:

  • Action News Now (Chico, Calif.): Major upgrades to be made to Iron Canyon Fish Ladder on Big Chico Creek
  • California Trout: News release: Iron Canyon Fish Passage Project on Big Chico Creek enters construction phase
  • KFI AM640 (Burbank, Calif.): New bridge to aid trout, trails in San Juan Capistrano
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 21, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Is Colorado ready for forced Colorado River cuts? State official says it might be time to develop a plan.

Colorado water officials announced Wednesday a rough plan to figure out how the state would handle an unwelcome specter in the Colorado River Basin: forced water cuts. Mandatory water cuts are possible under a 100-year-old Colorado River Compact in certain circumstances, mainly if the river’s 10-year flow falls too low. It’s a possibility that is one or two “bad years” away, some experts say. Colorado, however, does not have a clearly defined plan, or regulations, for how exactly it would handle such forced water cuts. … If the river’s flow falls below a 10-year rolling average of about 82.5 million acre-feet, the Lower Basin states — Arizona, California and Nevada — could demand that the Upper Basin send more water downstream based on the 1922 Colorado River Compact. In the water world, this is often called a “compact call.”

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Inside Climate News: Amid tense negotiations over the Colorado River’s future, Arizona mayors unite against ‘threat’ to state’s water
  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Conditions on the Colorado River don’t seem to be getting much better
  • ABC15 (Phoenix, Ariz.): Coalition forms to protect Arizona’s water supply
  • FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah): Capitol Hill looks at consolidating Colorado River power
  • The Desert Review (Brawley, Calif.): Opinion: Finger-pointing won’t solve the Colorado River crisis
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 20, 2025 Denver Gazette (Colo.)

‘Customers must ask for water’: Mandatory water restrictions active in Colorado mountain town

Located in the heart of Colorado’s high country, Summit County’s Town of Frisco has implemented mandatory water use restrictions amid a strain on the area’s water infrastructure amid low creek flows. … The goal of these restrictions is to reduce strain on the town’s water pumps given low creek flow, as well as to protect creek habitat. At this time, drinking water supplies and water used for fire protection are not at risk. A few key water use changes that are required by these restrictions include the following: Restaurants and other commercial establishments can only serve water upon customer request.

Other water conservation news:

  • UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation: News release: UCLA to help inform California’s residential water use policy implementation
  • KTAR (Phoenix, Ariz.): Water use high? Here’s how Phoenix residents can conserve
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 20, 2025 FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah)

As Colorado River sees more cuts, Utah leaders feel pressure to strike a deal

… Utah and the six other states along the Colorado River are in the middle of negotiating new agreements governing the river. At times, it appears the discussions have been acrimonious. When the seven state representatives left a power summit in Las Vegas last year? They weren’t speaking. … Upper Basin states have been criticized for not taking as deep of cuts, where they argue they already have made reductions. One thing that Utah is planning for post-2026? More conservation. … ”Conservation is one thing that I think that the Upper Basin has contemplated all along that we would be able to put on the table in order to facilitate a deal,” said Amy Haas, the executive director of the Colorado River Authority of Utah.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Arizona’s Family (Phoenix): Arizona farmers adjust to water restrictions as Colorado River cuts continue
  • The Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Opinion: Lake Powell avoided calamity by mere inches. Next month, it won’t be so lucky
  • Western FarmPress: Opinion: Protecting upper Colorado River is protecting food, rural communities
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 19, 2025 SFGate

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Officials predict Lake Mead will hit its lowest water levels ever in 2 years

Amid severe drought and ongoing, tense negotiations over the future of the Colorado River, federal officials are predicting that Lake Mead will see its lowest water levels ever within the next two years. Last week, the Bureau of Reclamation released a report that estimates water levels for reservoirs in the Colorado River Basin, including Lake Powell and Lake Mead, over the next two years. … The report led the bureau to cut Arizona and Nevada’s shares of water from the Colorado River by 18% and 7%, respectively. Mexico will also lose 5% of its water allotment. The bureau did not call on California to reduce its water usage, however. 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Public News Service: WY, basin states get centuries-old assist on future Colorado River use
  • The Land Desk: Blog: Colorado River report grim; may be looking on the bright side
  • KUNC (Greeley, Colo.): In the NoCo podcast: Invasive zebra mussels devastate ecosystems. Can officials stop them from harming the Colorado River?
  • USGS: Blog: Monitoring Utah’s water from the Colorado River Basin to the Great Basin
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 18, 2025 CalMatters

Monday Top of the Scroll: ‘Beyond awful’ Colorado River forecasts put water talks under pressure

After one of the Colorado River’s driest years in decades, Lake Mead and Lake Powell — the largest reservoirs in the country — could see alarming declines in the coming years, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced today. Federal officials again called for Arizona and Nevada to cut back their supplies from the overtapped river — though California, with its senior claims to the river’s water, will be spared. While expected, today’s two-year projection ratchets up tension among seven states in the Colorado River basin, which have struggled to agree on the river’s management after 2026, when current guidelines expire. 

Other Reclamation announcement news:

  • AP News: Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will again get less Colorado River water in 2026
  • E&E News by Politico: Interior forecasts more water supply cuts in the Colorado River Basin
  • The Colorado Sun (Denver): New Colorado River report calls for Arizona to cut use by 18%, Nevada by 7%
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Colorado River shortages will continue through 2026, with ‘dire’ predictions beyond
  • ABC15 (Phoenix, Ariz.): Arizona farmers prepare for more water cuts amid Western drought
  • Nevada Current: Nevada will see another year of Colorado River water cuts
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 15, 2025 John Fleck at Inkstain

Blog: Awaiting the Colorado River 24-Month Study

As we await Friday’s (Aug. 15, 2025) release of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River 24-Month Study, we need to remember a painful lesson of the last five years of crisis management: whatever you see in Reclamation’s report of the “Most Probable” reservoir levels for the next two years, we must prepare for things to be much worse. A year ago, Reclamation’s “Most Probable” forecast told us to expect Lake Powell to hold 10.36 million acre feet of water at the end of July 2025, with a surface elevation 3,593 feet above sea level. Actual storage in Powell at the end of July was 7.46 maf, 2.9 million acre feet less, and the reservoir is 38 feet lower, than the “Most Probable” forecast.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KREX/Western Slope Now (Grand Junction, Colo.): Fighting salt: protecting crops from natural buildup in the Colorado River
  • FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah): Low water levels force closure of Lake Powell boat ramps
  • WyoFile: Wyoming advances land exchange for proposed West Fork Dam
  • KJCT (Grand Junction, Colo.): The Colorado River and its necessary infrastructure
  • KLAS/8NewsNow (Las Vegas, Nev.): Las Vegas valley’s water use more efficient; SNWA’s goal is a 10% improvement
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 14, 2025 Gunnison Country Times (Colo.)

Drought puts Blue Mesa in crosshairs again

After weeks of hot, dry and windy weather across western Colorado, Gunnison County Commissioners received a water-issues update on Tuesday that was filled with “sobering” news. … [T]he U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is once again considering emergency releases from Blue Mesa Reservoir to bolster falling water levels in Lake Powell. … If current conditions persist, Lake Powell is projected to fall below the critical elevation of 3,525 feet above sea level in the spring of 2026. This would be the second time that has occurred since the reservoir filled in 1980. … To complicate matters, the 2007 agreement between upper and lower Colorado River Basin states that guides decision-making in the event of shortages is set to expire in 2026.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • ABC15 (Yuma, Ariz.): Continued drought puts pressure on states to reach new Colorado River sharing agreement
  • Smart Water Magazine: USBR invests almost $200 million in water reuse in the Colorado River Basin
  • The Gunnison Country Times (Colo.): Portions of Blue Mesa under toxic algae advisory
  • Los Angeles Times: Opinion: River rafting in Colorado offers climate lessons for Southern California
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 13, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: What do nearly 200 people say about a plan to buy powerful Colorado River rights? Go for it.

Western Slope communities and water agencies want to be able to use powerful Colorado River water rights tied to the Shoshone Power Plant to help the environment. Over 170 members of the public weighed in on the process — and all but one said they liked the idea. The Colorado Water Conservation Board, a state water agency, gathered the public comments in preparation for a hearing about whether to incorporate the water rights into the state’s Instream Flow Program. The program aims to keep water in rivers to help aquatic and riparian ecosystems. The proposed change is part of a larger plan on the Western Slope to permanently maintain the historic flows around Shoshone. 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KREX (Grand Junction, Colo.): Federal funds restored for Orchard Mesa water projects, benefiting the Colorado River
  • 12News (Phoenix, Ariz.): Arizona governor declares ’state of emergency’ after Oxbow Bridge collapse
  • Scientia: Blog: Running on empty – climate change and the future of the Colorado River Basin
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 12, 2025 Colorado Newsline

Opinion: A paradigm shift on the Colorado River is the only way to confront the water crisis

For millions of years, water flowing through the Colorado River shaped the geography of the West, carving out features like the Grand Canyon. Now, the Colorado River sustains the cities, farms and industries of the southwestern U.S., providing 40 million people with water. … The Colorado River is remarkable in and of itself, it lays the foundation for remarkable habitats, and, apparently, can precipitate remarkable political alliances. This month, all 10 of Colorado’s U.S. legislators, from the most progressive representatives to MAGA Lauren Boebert, sent a letter to President Donald Trump calling for the release of funding for Colorado River water projects.
–Written by Colorado Newsline columnist Sammy Herdman.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • 12News (Phoenix, Ariz.): Professor to test Grand Canyon water supply after Dragon Bravo Fire burned the area
  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Díaz and Allhands: Swapping water from farms to cities is a glimpse into Arizona’s future
  • Mesa County: News release: West Slope counties urge Department of Interior to release funds awarded for the Shoshone Water Right Preservation Project
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 11, 2025 Arizona Republic (Phoenix)

Oxbow Bridge collapse called serious public safety threat

The collapse of the Oxbow Bridge, which linked Cibola in La Paz County to California, poses a serious threat to public health and safety and has cut off a critical access route between the two states, the La Paz County Board of Supervisors said. The bridge connected Levee Road to the west side of the Colorado River. The Oxbow 2 Fire burned about 5 acres near the Oxbow Recreation and Wildlife Area, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The collapse of the bridge also caused hazardous debris to enter the Colorado River waterway. This poses risks to environmental resources, recreational users and emergency responders, La Paz County Board of Supervisors said.

Related articles:

  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): Oxbow Bridge connecting Arizona to California collapses in Colorado River following brush fire
  • The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.): Bridge connecting California and Arizona burns down, shutting down a key route
  • Parker Pioneer (Ariz.): County Supervisors declare emergency after Oxbow Bridge fire
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news August 11, 2025 KTNV/ABC13 (Las Vegas, Nev.)

Water negotiations still at impasse as levels decline at Lake Mead

The Colorado River system, a lifeline for 40 million people across seven states, is in decline — as negotiations for water-sharing agreements approach a critical deadline. The current guidelines governing use of the river expire in October of 2026, so decision-making should be ramping up for how Nevada and six other western states will share the essential water resource in the future. … To better understand how the pending agreements impact our region, Channel 13 teamed up with our Scripps News Group member station in Phoenix, Arizona, to hear from the people who depend on this river and those sounding the alarm about its future.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • AZ Big Media: What new era of water rights and distribution means for Arizona
  • Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Arizona’s declining share of Colorado River likely to hold steady for a year
  • Colorado Sun (Denver): A gasoline spill raised alarms about Animas River impacts near Durango. The risk is small, not gone, experts say.
  • Los Angeles Times: Boiling Point podcast: The future of the Colorado River
  • WashU Magazine (St. Louis, Mo.): The heaviness of water
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 8, 2025 KSNV/News3 (Las Vegas, Nev.)

Friday Top of the Scroll: Lake Mead faces historic low water levels amid ongoing drought

Lake Mead is projected to reach some of its lowest water levels ever recorded by 2027, raising concerns about the future of the vital water source. … UNLV Emeritus Professor of Hydrology and Geoscience David Kreamer explained that the Colorado River Compact, an agreement from the 1920s, allocates only 4 percent of the lower basin’s water to Nevada, with California and Arizona receiving the remaining 96 percent. Kreamer suggested that revising this agreement could help Lake Mead’s water levels rise. ”We have to reach some sort of an agreement with reduction of water,” Kreamer said, noting that California has agreed to reduce its water usage.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Arizona State University: Blog: With a looming deadline for the Colorado River Compact, ASU water experts weigh in on the state’s water forecast
  • Post Independent (Glenwood Springs, Colo.): Middle Colorado Watershed Council breaks ground on Roan Creek Fish Barrier Project
  • Inside Tucson Business (Ariz.): Oro Valley reaches $3M in water project grants
  • The Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Phoenix gets $179M for North Gateway water purification project
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 7, 2025 KUNM (Albuquerque, N.M.)

Lake Powell’s plunge toward ‘dead pool’ puts New Mexico reservoir in play

Amid a prolonged megadrought, the Bureau of Reclamation is predicting that Lake Powell, one of the Colorado River’s most crucial reservoirs, may drop to a “dead pool,” preventing the production of hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam. But, water managers won’t let that happen. They’ll first tap into reservoirs further upstream – including in New Mexico. … For the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell, Reclamation is projecting that water levels will sink well below the 3,500-foot dead pool elevation threshold next year. … [T]o keep the generators going, Colorado River managers will tap into upstream reserves elsewhere. That includes Navajo Lake near Farmington, which primarily stores water from the San Juan River for local irrigation and other uses.

Other drought news around the West:

  • Colorado Public Radio: Drought blankets most of Intermountain West, including Colorado — and will likely get worse
  • FOX5/KUSI (San Diego): Is California in store for a drought? What you need to know
  • The Conversation: As the Colorado River slowly dries up, states angle for influence over future water rights
  • NASA: Blog: US-German water satellites show continental dry spots are getting drier
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 6, 2025 Inside Climate News

Copper mines close in on Western Apache sacred site, and the forest protected to mitigate the damage

On the banks of the San Pedro River lies one of the American Southwest’s few remaining old-growth mesquite bosques—a streamside forest in more than 3,000 acres of riparian ecosystem that is one of Arizona’s last intact landscapes. Known as the 7B Ranch, the mesquite forest is vital to the area’s biodiversity. … [J]ust eight miles up the road is another proposed mine, this one pursued by Faraday Copper, for which the Bureau of Land Management has approved exploratory drilling. Now, the San Carlos Apache Tribe and a coalition of environmental groups appealed to the BLM’s Arizona state director to review the agency’s approval of Faraday’s Copper Creek project, citing its impacts to 7B Ranch as a property mitigating the impacts of a mine elsewhere, and for the “serious risks to wildlife, water resources, landscape connectivity, human health, and cultural resources” it poses to the tribe, land and other local communities. 

Other tribal water news:

  • SJV Water (Bakersfield, Calif.): Video: Kern River Valley tribe excluded from river rights
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 6, 2025 Summit Daily (Colo.)

Colorado’s congressional delegation asks for Colorado River funding to flow back to Western Slope projects

Colorado’s congressional delegation has united to ask the Trump administration to release $140 million in funding previously granted to water projects in the state, including $40 million to aid in the Colorado River District’s purchase of the Shoshone water rights. … Of the Colorado awardees, the largest allocation was $40 million to the Colorado River District to purchase the Shoshone water rights from Xcel Energy. … The Shoshone water rights — which include a 1905 senior right tied to the Shoshone Power Plant in Glenwood Canyon and a secondary, junior right established in 1929 for other water users, including Front Range providers — are among the oldest and largest non-consumptive rights on the Colorado River. 

Other Colorado River Basin news: 

  • Colorado Public Radio: Colorado’s congress members united in push for Trump administration to release water project funding
  • E&E News by Politico: Lawmakers seek release of Colorado River funds
  • Durango Herald (Colo.): Colorado’s entire congressional delegation tells Trump to release water project funds
  • Bureau of Reclamation: News release: ‘Cool Mix’ flows resume at Glen Canyon Dam
  • KNAU (Flagstaff, Ariz.): Pipeline break triggers water conservation measures at Grand Canyon
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 5, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Bipartisan congressional letter calls on Trump to release water funds

Colorado’s entire congressional delegation, Republicans and Democrats alike, is calling for the release of $140 million in frozen funds for Colorado River water projects. In January, the last days of the Biden administration, the Bureau of Reclamation awarded funding for 17 projects as part of the federal drought-response effort in the overstressed Colorado River Basin. Three days later, President Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders that aimed to reshape federal spending priorities to match his administration’s policies. … It stalled hoped-for progress on everything from irrigation ditch repairs to fish passage projects. … [The lawmakers] sent the letter Monday to the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation, the agencies in charge of awarding the funds. 

Other water project funding news:

  • E&E News by Politico: Interior approves grants for protecting wetland habitats
  • Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley: News release: Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley urges federal action on water infrastructure
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news August 4, 2025 The Denver Gazette (Colo.)

CPW announces plan to treat invasive zebra mussels in privately owned body of water in Eagle County

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has announced a plan to contain and treat invasive zebra mussels in a privately owned body of water in western Eagle County. According to a press release from CPW, staff will apply EarthTec QZ, an EPA-registered copper-based molluscicide, to the lake in the coming weeks. Staff will routinely monitor the water to evaluate its effectiveness following the initial treatment. … As well as this planned treatment, CPW staff will continue increased sampling efforts on the Colorado River and its tributaries above and below the infested body of water.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Complete Colorado: Opinion: Everybody already knows the fix for Colorado River water
  • The Colorado Sun (Denver): Gold King put a spotlight on mine pollution in Colorado. Ten years later, locals are still waiting for a solution.
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news July 31, 2025 E&E News by Politico

Thursday Top of the Scroll: California weighs in on water share in Colorado River talks

While the Bureau of Reclamation in on the right track as it weighs how to split flows from the drought-stricken Colorado River, any new agreement must include “clear, binding commitments” by all states to reduce or conserve water, California’s lead negotiator said. For nearly two years, officials with the seven Colorado River states — Arizona, California and Nevada in the Lower Basin; and Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the Upper Basin — have been in negotiations over a new long-term operating agreement for the drought-stricken waterway. They face a November deadline from the Bureau of Reclamation to strike a deal. States negotiators revealed in June that they have begun to coalesce around a deal based on “natural flow” — or estimates of how much water would be in the river without human-interventions like diversions or dams.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix): Arizona officials shift focus to secure state’s share of Colorado River
  • KUER (Salt Lake City, Utah): One Utah man’s quest to track the bugs fighting invasive trees on the Colorado River
  • Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nev.): Low water levels likely to close boat ramps along Colorado River
  • Post Independent (Glenwood Springs, Colo.): Parachute adopts Water Conservation Program in lieu of changing conditions at Parachute Creek
  • KSJD (Cortez, Colo.): Outdoor Report Podcast: Drought or aridification? Water future of the Colorado River Basin
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news July 30, 2025 E&E News by Politico

State negotiator: Colorado River plans must dole out less water

A top Colorado state negotiator said Monday that the Bureau of Reclamation must consider sending less Colorado River water to California, Arizona and Nevada if regulators want to avoid “running so close to the brink of crisis all the time.” The Interior Department and Reclamation are leading negotiations among the seven states that share the drought-stricken waterway, trying to come up with a new long-term operating plan. The states face a November deadline to meet an agreement, but for nearly two years have been at odds over how to divide cuts to the amount of water flowing to the Upper Basin — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico — and the Lower Basin of California, Arizona and Nevada. 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Utah News Dispatch: Navajo Nation pushes for water rights as Colorado River shrinks​
  • Audubon: Blog: Proposed project could boost water supplies in Central Arizona
  • Arizona’s Family (Phoenix): Sonoran Sky Podcast: Understanding Arizona’s water situation
  • Fort Collins Science Center (USGS): Blog: Ecosystem change science in support of wildfire management, water conservation, public land reclamation, and food security
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news July 29, 2025 KNAU (Flagstaff, Ariz.)

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Negotiations between states over Colorado River water use hit snags

After a promising step in talks about the future of the Colorado River, the seven states that use its water appear to be hitting more hurdles. They’re arguing over exactly how much water each state will get from the shrinking river. A few weeks ago, researcher John Fleck at the University of New Mexico said he saw a “glimmer of hope” in those negotiations. But now, that glimmer is gone. Fleck says states are falling back into rivalries that go back more than a century, and they’re afraid to make compromises. “This new method has a lot of promise, but as we work out the details, we’re seeing that those old problems are surfacing again, and the negotiations as a result, just don’t seem to be going as well as we had hoped they were,” Fleck says.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KJCT (Grand Junction, Colo.): Colorado Basin Roundtable takeaway
  • KLAS (Las Vegas, Nev.): Crucial decision on Las Vegas water coming in August; are Lake Mead projections reliable?
  • FOX5 (Las Vegas, Nev.): Latest Bureau of Reclamation report makes grim predictions about future levels at Lake Mead
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news July 28, 2025 The Tucson Sentinel (Ariz.)

Tribal water settlement aims to repair generations of exclusion

… Because the Hopi—along with the nearby Navajo and San Juan Southern Paiute—live in remote areas far from major population centers, residents rely on practical solutions to survive with limited access to water. … Now, after years of negotiations, the tribes are seeing their push for long-term solutions gain renewed momentum in Congress. The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, reintroduced this year with bipartisan support, would resolve decades of legal disputes and devote $5 billion to delivering Colorado River water to the region through a new pipeline, pumping stations and storage systems. … The state also stands to benefit. If passed, the settlement would give tribes the authority to release water to other users—flexibility that could help ease shortages during the ongoing drought. 

Other tribal water news:

  • California WaterBlog: Bargaining for tribal water in California
  • The Colorado Sun (Denver): The Southern Ute tribe has finally tapped into Animas-La Plata water. Why did it take 60 years?
  • Times-Standard (Eureka, Calif.): Trinidad elects to explore new water supply; community members fear induced growth
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Aquafornia news July 28, 2025 Aspen Journalism (Colo.)

River District offers proposal on Western Slope water deal

In an effort to head off concerns about the state’s role in a major Western Slope water deal, a Western Slope water district has offered up a compromise proposal to Front Range water providers. In order to defuse what Colorado River Water Conservation District General Manager Andy Mueller called “an ugly contested hearing before the CWCB,” the River District is proposing that the state water board take a neutral position on the exact amount of water tied to the Shoshone hydropower plant water rights and let a water court determine a final number. … The River District, which represents 15 counties on the Western Slope, is planning to purchase some of the oldest and largest non-consumptive water rights on the Colorado River from Xcel Energy for nearly $100 million. … As part of the deal, the River District is seeking to add an instream flow water right to benefit the environment to the hydropower water rights.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • KJZZ (Phoenix, Ariz.): ‘Glimmer of hope’ in Colorado River negotiations is now gone, researcher says
  • The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah): Lake Powell is lower than last July. This boat ramp may be only the first to close.
  • The Denver Gazette (Colo.): Protecting the Yampa: Unique fund in northwest Colorado celebrates 5 years in service to the river
  • Steamboat Pilot (Colo.): Yampa River Basin now ‘on call’ for senior water rights
  • The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, Colo.): Opinion: What we do to our water matters — to all of us
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news July 25, 2025 The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Western lawmakers move to improve Colorado River snow monitoring

Western lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, want to know — exactly — how much snow and water is in the Colorado River Basin. The legislators Thursday introduced a bill focused on improving how the basin measures its water supply. … The bill highlights focus areas for the program, like being more responsive to changing weather and watershed conditions, informing water management decisions at local up to interstate levels, and building the program’s capacity so it can adapt to new forecasting and measurement capabilities. The bill would also support different measurement technologies like imaging spectroscopy, machine learning, and integrated snowpack and hydrologic modeling. It would increase the program’s budget from $15 million over five years to $32.5 million over five years.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

  • Courthouse News Service: Ninth Circuit revives Arizona wells caught in tribal water quarrel
  • ABC15 (Phoenix, Ariz.): Exclusive look inside the massive pipelines keeping Arizona hydrated
  • West Valley View (Tempe, Ariz.): Water storage project moves into next stages across West Valley
  • Arizona Daily Star (Tucson): Opinion: My journey alongside the Colorado River
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Western Water April 17, 2025 Matt Jenkins WESTERN WATER-Changes Loom for Innovative Lower Colorado River Endangered Species Program Amid Drought, New River Rules Colorado River Basin Map Matt Jenkins

Changes Loom for Innovative Lower Colorado River Endangered Species Program Amid Drought, New River Rules
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: As the 50-year Multi-Species Conservation Program hits the 20-year mark this month, new questions about how to keep it strong hang over its future

Image shows Endangered bonytail chub were released into a Colorado River lagoon near Laughlin, Nev., in spring of 2024 as part of the MSCP. Before the construction of Hoover Dam on the lower Colorado River, as well as a slew of smaller sisters downstream, the stretch downriver served as a biological oasis in the middle of the unrelenting Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The marshes and backwaters along the river’s edge provided sheltered areas for fish to spawn and rear their young, and mesquite and cottonwood-willow forests provided important habitat for numerous species of birds and other animals.

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Western Water February 13, 2025 WESTERN WATER: Golden Mussel, California’s Newest Delta Invader, Is Likely Here To Stay – And Spread Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map Spencer Fordin and Douglas E. Beeman

Golden Mussel, California’s Newest Delta Invader, Is Likely Here To Stay – And Spread
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Aquatic hitchhiker adds to burden of invasive mussels challenging water agencies across the West

Image shows golden mussels clustered on a buoy, found during a survey in November 2024 at O'Neill Forebay at the foot of San Luis Reservoir in Merced County. The mussels were also discovered for the first time in North America last fall in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and O'Neill Forebay. A new aquatic invader, the golden mussel, has penetrated California’s ecologically fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the West Coast’s largest tidal estuary and the hub of the state’s vast water export system. While state officials say they’re working to keep this latest invasive species in check, they concede it may be a nearly impossible task: The golden mussel is in the Golden State to stay – and it is likely to spread.

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Announcement November 14, 2024

Colorado River Water Leaders Release Recommendations for Augmentation Projects

The 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders cohort completed its seven-month program with policy recommendations involving ”augmentation” – projects that increase the availability and supply of water – as the Colorado River Basin grows hotter and drier.

The cohort of 12 up-and-coming leaders included engineers, lawyers, resource specialists and others working for public, private and non-governmental organizations from across the river’s basin. The cohort had full editorial control to choose its recommendations.

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Aquafornia news April 30, 2024 Courthouse News Service

California water managers advise multipronged approach in face of climate change

State water management officials must work more closely with local agencies to properly prepare California for the effects of climate change, water scientists say. Golden State officials said in the newly revised California Water Plan that as the nation’s most populous state, California is too diverse and complex for a singular approach to manage a vast water network. On Monday, they recommended expanding the work to better manage the state’s precious water resources — including building better partnerships with communities most at risk during extreme drought and floods and improving critical infrastructure for water storage, treatment and distribution among different regions and watersheds.

Related climate change articles: 

  • Washington Post: Southern U.S. has faced twice the global sea level rise rate since 2010
  • Engineering News-Record: World Cup, olympics, climate change drive California infrastructure efforts
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Aquafornia news April 30, 2024 Colorado Sun

Upper Basin tribes gain permanent foothold in Colorado River talks

Six tribes in the Upper Colorado River Basin, including two in Colorado, have gained long-awaited access to discussions about the basin’s water issues — talks that were formerly limited to states and the federal government. Under an agreement finalized this month, the tribes will meet every two months to discuss Colorado River issues with an interstate water policy commission, the Upper Colorado River Commission, or UCRC. It’s the first time in the commission’s 76-year history that tribes have been formally included, and the timing is key as negotiations about the river’s future intensify. … Most immediately, the commission wants a key number: How much water goes unused by tribes and flows down to the Lower Basin?

Related tribal water articles: 

  • Upper Colorado River Commission: News release - Upper Basin tribes sign historic memorandum of understanding with Upper Division states
  • Parker Pioneer: CRIT signs historic water rights agreement with Secretary Haaland, Gov. Hobbs
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Aquafornia news April 10, 2024 Stanford Report

Addressing the Colorado River crisis

Sustaining the American Southwest is the Colorado River. But demand, damming, diversion, and drought are draining this vital water resource at alarming rates. The future of water in the region – particularly from the Colorado River – was top of mind at the 10th Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference, an event organized by the Bill Lane Center for the American West that brings together policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to discuss solutions to urgent problems facing rural Western regions.

Related articles: 

  • Summit Daily: Colorado River district seeks Summit County’s help in clinching $99 million Western Slope water rights deal
  • Fronteras: The Colorado River loses more than 19M acre-feet of water annually, but where does it go?
  • Aspen Daily News: A classic comeback for Old Man Winter
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  • View Original Article
Tour March 12, 2025 - 7:30am - March 14, 2025 - 6:30pm Become a Tour Sponsor! Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2025
Field Trip - March 12-14

Tour participants gathered for a group photo in front of Hoover DamThis tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

Check out this highlight video of one of our recent tours!

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
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Publication March 4, 2024 Colorado River Basin Map

Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Basin
Updated 2024

Cover of Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin

Learn the history and challenges facing the West’s most dramatic and developed river. 

The Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Basin introduces the 1,450-mile river that sustains 40 million people and millions of acres of farmland spanning seven states and parts of northern Mexico.

The 28-page primer explains how the river’s water is shared and managed as the Southwest transitions to a hotter and drier climate.

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Aquafornia news February 9, 2024 The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah looks to other states for more water under new bill

A much-anticipated water bill brought by one of the most powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill became public Thursday. Senate President Stuart Adams’s SB 211, titled “Generational Water Infrastructure Amendments,” seeks to secure a water supply for decades to come. It forms a new council comprised of leadership from the state’s biggest water districts that will figure out Utah’s water needs for the next 50 to 75 years. It also creates a new governor-appointed “Utah Water Agent” with a $1 million annual budget that will “coordinate with the council to ensure Utah’s generational water needs are met,” according to a news release. But combing through the text of the bill reveals the water agent’s main job will be finding an out-of-state water supply. … The bill also notes the water agent won’t meddle with existing water compacts with other states on the Bear and Colorado rivers.

Related article: 

  • The Associated Press: In rural Utah, concern over efforts to use Colorado River water to extract lithium
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Aquafornia news February 6, 2024 The Salt Lake Tribune

Opinion: Moab unites to fight a floodplain development

Moab is a growing town of 5,300 that up to 5 million people visit each year to hike nearby Arches and Canyonlands national parks, ride mountain bikes and all-terrain vehicles, or raft the Colorado River. Like any western resort town, it desperately needs affordable housing. What locals say it doesn’t need is a high-end development on a sandbar projecting into the Colorado River, where groves of cottonwoods, willows and hackberries flourish. “Delusional,” shameful” or “outrageous” is what many locals call this Kane Creek Preservation and Development project.
- Written by Mary Moran, a contributor to Writers on the Range

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Aquafornia news February 6, 2024 KLAS - Las Vegas

Atmospheric rivers bring rain and snow, but will they feed the Colorado River?

The attention is on Southern California right now, but an atmospheric river’s path will extend inland with potential flooding — and possible drought relief. If you’re watching the weather, it’s still a little early to tell whether these storms will go where they can hope Las Vegas the most. That’s anywhere in the Upper Colorado River Basin, where there’s a chance they could produce snow to help the river that supplies 90% of the water used in Southern Nevada. … The paths of this year’s atmospheric rivers are unlike the ones that slammed the Sierras last year. Those storms carried snow straight east through Northern Nevada and Utah, feeding the Rocky Mountains with snowpack levels that reached 160% of normal by the end of winter. 

Related articles: 

  • Arizona Family: Atmospheric river brings flooding to Southern California; same storm to impact Arizona
  • 12 News – Phoenix: Rain, snow and colder temps are headed to Arizona this week
  • Newsweek: How Lake Mead water levels will change after atmospheric river
  • Aspen Journalism: Colorado Springs agrees to give up water rights for Summit County basin reservoirs
  • Coyote Gulch blog: Compared to 2023, the current water year might seem underwhelming — #Colorado Basin River Forecast Center #ColoradoRiver #CORiver #aridification​
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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 The Arizona Republic

Commentary: Water regulation in Arizona has now devolved into a game of chicken

Water regulation in Arizona has devolved into a game of chicken. The governor and farmers are rivals revving their engines, hoping their opponent will flinch first. Caught in the middle is Gila Bend, a groundwater basin south of Buckeye, where the state could decide to impose its most stringent form of regulation, whether folks like it or not. Both sides are using Gila Bend as a bargaining chip to win support for competing legislative proposals. But to what end?
- Written by Joanna Allhands, Arizona Republic digital opinions editor 

Related article: 

  • Las Vegas Sun: Federal agency releases Topock Marsh project info
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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 Aspen Journalism

Colorado Senate favors limiting nonfunctional turf

Colorado legislators in 2022 passed a bill that delivered $2 million to programs across the state for removal of turf in urban areas classified as nonfunctional. By that, legislators mean Kentucky bluegrass and other thirsty-grass species that were meant to be seen but rarely, if ever, otherwise used. Now, they are taking the next step. The Colorado Senate on Tuesday, Jan. 30 voted in favor of a bill, Senate Bill 24-005, that would prevent thirsty turf species from being planted in certain places that rarely, if ever, get foot traffic, except perhaps to be mowed.

Related articles: 

  • Pagosa Daily Post: Commentary: Colorado River Commissioner Rebecca Mitchell addresses 2026 river negotiations
  • The Denver Gazette: Nearly finalized New Blue River agreement to provide more water for Colorado Springs
  • Colorado Department of Water Resources: Press release - Water measurement rules now in effect for Yampa, White, Green and North Platte River basins 
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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 JFleck at Inkstain

Blog: Senate hearing Thursday on tribal access to clean water: it takes more than just a pile of money

The U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee is holding an important hearing Thursday on S. 2385, a bill to refine the tools needed to help Tribal communities gain access to something that most non-Indian communities in the western United States have long taken for granted: federally subsidized systems to deliver safe, clean drinking water to our homes. … This is the sort of bill (there’s a companion on the House side) that makes a huge amount of sense, but could easily get sidetracked in the chaos of Congress. The ideal path is for the crucial vetting to happen in a process such as Thursday’s hearing, and then to attach it to one of those omnibus things that Congress uses these days to get non-controversial stuff done. Clean water for Native communities should pretty clearly be non-controversial.

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Aquafornia news February 5, 2024 KUER - Salt Lake City

What if Utah isn’t the 2nd-driest state we all thought it was?

For as long as he can remember, Rob Sowby has heard people call Utah the second-driest state in the nation. Over the years, that claim has become nearly inescapable, echoed by everyone from state departments, city governments and water conservancy districts to national news outlets without a clear citation for what data it’s based on. … Now a Brigham Young University civil engineering assistant professor focused on sustainable water supplies, he decided to get to the bottom of it. Using precipitation data, he found that Utah is actually the nation’s third-driest state, behind Nevada and Arizona.

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Aquafornia news January 12, 2024 Mohave Valley Daily News

Reclamation releases Topock Marsh project timeline, addressing low water levels

The Topock Marsh has seen a significant drop in water levels recently, with dry patches visible and locals concerned about the effects on wildlife. The 4,000-acre Bureau of Reclamation marsh is adjacent to the Colorado River in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it serves as a recreation area and wildlife habitat for the Tri-state. 

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Announcement January 4, 2024

Apply by Jan. 22 for Our Colorado River Water Leaders Program
Get an overview and tips on applying

Apply for our 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders program to deepen your knowledge of the inconic Southwest river, build leadership skills and develop policy ideas with a cohort to improve management of the region’s most crucial natural resource.

Our biennial Water Leaders program, part of our Colorado River Project, selects rising stars from the seven states that rely on the river – Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

Get an overview of the program and tips on applying by watching this virtual Q&A session. Applications are due Jan. 22, 2024 and you can find application materials here along with mandatory program dates.

“I highly recommend the program to emerging water leaders. The program’s immersive experience, relationship building and mentorship opportunities cultivate leadership and collaborative skills crucial for addressing complex challenges faced by all those who rely upon the Colorado River now and into the future.”

– JB Hamby, Class of ‘22 and Chair of the Colorado River Board of California

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Western Water December 19, 2023 Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to Water Recycling Western Water News: Colorado River shortages drive major advances in recycled sewage water use By Nick Cahill

Colorado River Shortages Drive Major Advances in Recycled Sewage Water Use
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Phoenix, Southern California betting on purified sewage to fill drinking water needs

After more than two decades of drought, water utilities serving the largest urban regions in the arid Southwest are embracing a drought-proof source of drinking water long considered a supply of last resort: purified sewage.

Water supplies have tightened to the point that Phoenix and the water supplier for 19 million Southern California residents are racing to adopt an expensive technology called “direct potable reuse” or “advanced purification” to reduce their reliance on imported water from the dwindling Colorado River.

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Announcement December 6, 2023

Join Dec. 7 Virtual Q&A Session for 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders Cohort
Get a program overview and tips on applying by Jan. 22, 2024

Join a virtual Q&A session Dec. 7 to learn more about applying for our 2024 Colorado River Water Leaders cohort.

The biennial program, which will run from March to September next year, selects about a dozen rising stars from the seven states that rely on the river – California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.

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Western Water November 16, 2023 Colorado River Basin Map Western Water News: Tribes Gain Clout as Colorado River Shrinks - an In-Depth Look By Nick Cahill

Tribes Gain Clout as Colorado River Shrinks
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Tribes hold key state-appointed posts for first time as their water rises in value

A CAP canal in North PhoenixThe climate-driven shrinking of the Colorado River is expanding the influence of Native American tribes over how the river’s flows are divided among cities, farms and reservations across the Southwest.

The tribes are seeing the value of their largely unused river water entitlements rise as the Colorado dwindles, and they are gaining seats they’ve never had at the water bargaining table as government agencies try to redress a legacy of exclusion.

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Announcement November 15, 2023

Apply for Our Colorado River Water Leaders Program
Join Dec. 7 virtual Q&A session

The application window is now open for our Colorado River Water Leaders program, which will run from March to September next year.

Our biennial program, part of our Colorado River Project, is patterned after our highly successful California Water Leaders program and selects rising stars from the seven states that rely on the river - California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – to take part in a cohort.

During the seven-month program designed for working professionals, the cohort members explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest river, deepen their water knowledge and build leadership skills. 

“I highly recommend the program to emerging water leaders. The program’s immersive experience, relationship building and mentorship opportunities cultivate leadership and collaborative skills crucial for addressing complex challenges faced by all those who rely upon the Colorado River now and into the future.”

– JB Hamby, Class of ‘22 & Chair of the Colorado River Board of California

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Announcement July 19, 2023

Applications for 2024 Water Leader Programs Just Around the Corner
Apps available in fall for our California and Colorado River Basin water leader cohorts

It’s never too early to start thinking about applying for our preeminent water leadership programs.

The Water Education Foundation has run the William R. Gianelli Water Leaders class since 1997, and launched a similar biennial program for the Colorado River Basin in 2022.

Both programs will be accepting applications for the 2024 cohorts starting in the fall. 

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Western Water April 21, 2023 WESTERN WATER-Upper Colorado River States Add Muscle as Decisions Loom on the Shrinking River’s Future By Nick Cahill

Upper Colorado River States Add Muscle as Decisions Loom on the Shrinking River’s Future
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Upper Basin States Seek Added Leverage to Protect Their River Shares Amid Difficult Talks with California and the Lower Basin

The White River winds and meanders through a valley.The states of the Lower Colorado River Basin have traditionally played an oversized role in tapping the lifeline that supplies 40 million people in the West. California, Nevada and Arizona were quicker to build major canals and dams and negotiated a landmark deal that requires the Upper Basin to send predictable flows through the Grand Canyon, even during dry years.

But with the federal government threatening unprecedented water cuts amid decades of drought and declining reservoirs, the Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico are muscling up to protect their shares of an overallocated river whose average flows in the Upper Basin have already dropped 20 percent over the last century.

They have formed new agencies to better monitor their interests, moved influential Colorado River veterans into top negotiating posts and improved their relationships with Native American tribes that also hold substantial claims to the river.

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Tour March 13, 2024 - 7:30am - March 15, 2024 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2024
Field Trip - March 13-15

Tour participants gathered for a group photo in front of Hoover DamThis tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
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Tour September 12, 2023 - 7:00pm - September 15, 2023 - 5:30pm Nick Gray

Eastern Sierra Tour 2023
Field Trip - September 12-15

This special Foundation water tour journeyed along the Eastern Sierra from the Truckee River to Mono Lake, through the Owens Valley and into the Mojave Desert to explore a major source of water for Southern California, this year’s snowpack and challenges for towns, farms and the environment.

Grand Sierra Resort
2500 E 2nd St
Reno, NV 89595
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Western Water December 9, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept By Nick Cahill

As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Chorus of experts warn climate change has rendered old assumptions outdated about what the Colorado River can provide, leaving painful water cuts as the only way forward

Photo shows Hoover Dam’s intake towers protruding from the surface of Lake Mead near Las Vegas, where water levels have dropped to record lows amid a 22-year drought. When the Colorado River Compact was signed 100 years ago, the negotiators for seven Western states bet that the river they were dividing would have ample water to meet everyone’s needs – even those not seated around the table.

A century later, it’s clear the water they bet on is not there. More than two decades of drought, lake evaporation and overuse of water have nearly drained the river’s two anchor reservoirs, Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border and Lake Mead near Las Vegas. Climate change is rendering the basin drier, shrinking spring runoff that’s vital for river flows, farms, tribes and cities across the basin – and essential for refilling reservoirs.

The states that endorsed the Colorado River Compact in 1922 – and the tribes and nation of Mexico that were excluded from the table – are now straining to find, and perhaps more importantly accept, solutions on a river that may offer just half of the water that the Compact assumed would be available. And not only are solutions not coming easily, the relationships essential for compromise are getting more frayed.

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Western Water September 16, 2022 WESTERN WATER-A Colorado River Veteran Moves Upstream and Plunges into the Drought-Stressed River's Mounting Woes By Nick Cahill

A Colorado River Veteran Moves Upstream and Plunges into The Drought-Stressed River’s Mounting Woes
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Chuck Cullom, a longtime Arizona water manager, brings a dual-basin perspective as top staffer at the Upper Colorado River Commission

Chuck Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission. With 25 years of experience working on the Colorado River, Chuck Cullom is used to responding to myriad challenges that arise on the vital lifeline that seven states, more than two dozen tribes and the country of Mexico depend on for water. But this summer problems on the drought-stressed river are piling up at a dizzying pace: Reservoirs plummeting to record low levels, whether Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam can continue to release water and produce hydropower, unprecedented water cuts and predatory smallmouth bass threatening native fish species in the Grand Canyon. 

“Holy buckets, Batman!,” said Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission. “I mean, it’s just on and on and on.”

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Western Water July 7, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-A Colorado River Tribal Leader Seeks A Voice In the River's Future--And Freedom to Profit From Its Surplus Water By Nick Cahill

A Colorado River Tribal Leader Seeks A Voice In the River’s Future–And Freedom to Profit From Its Water
WESTERN WATER Q&A: CRIT Chair Amelia Flores Says Allowing Tribe to Lease Or Store Water Off Reservation Could Aid Broader Colorado River Drought Response and Fund Irrigation Repairs

Amelia Flores, chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.As water interests in the Colorado River Basin prepare to negotiate a new set of operating guidelines for the drought-stressed river, Amelia Flores wants her Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) to be involved in the discussion. And she wants CRIT seated at the negotiating table with something invaluable to offer on a river facing steep cuts in use: its surplus water.

CRIT, whose reservation lands in California and Arizona are bisected by the Colorado River, has some of the most senior water rights on the river. But a federal law enacted in the late 1700s, decades before any southwestern state was established, prevents most tribes from sending any of its water off its reservation. The restrictions mean CRIT, which holds the rights to nearly a quarter of the entire state of Arizona’s yearly allotment of river water, is missing out on financial gain and the chance to help its river partners.

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Western Water April 29, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-As Drought Shrinks the Colorado River, A SoCal Giant Seeks Help from River Partners to Fortify its Local Supply By Nick Cahill

As Drought Shrinks the Colorado River, A SoCal Giant Seeks Help from River Partners to Fortify its Local Supply
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Metropolitan Water District's wastewater recycling project draws support from Arizona and Nevada, which hope to gain a share of Metropolitan's river supply

Metropolitan Water District's advanced water treatment demonstration plant in Carson. Momentum is building for a unique interstate deal that aims to transform wastewater from Southern California homes and business into relief for the stressed Colorado River. The collaborative effort to add resiliency to a river suffering from overuse, drought and climate change is being shaped across state lines by some of the West’s largest water agencies.  

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Tour March 8, 2023 - 7:30am - March 10, 2023 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2023
Field Trip - March 8-10

This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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Announcement January 20, 2022

A Week Left to Apply for Our Inaugural Colorado River Water Leaders Class
Foundation launching new program modeled after successful California program

California Water Leaders at Palo Verde DamThere is just about a week left to apply for our inaugural Colorado River Water Leaders program in 2022, which marks the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact.

The biennial program is modeled after our highly successful Water Leaders program in California, now 25 years strong.

Our Colorado River program will select rising stars from the seven U.S. states and tribal nations that rely on the river - California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – to participate in the seven-month class designed for working professionals. Class members will explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest river, deepen their water knowledge and build leadership skills. 

Get more information, tuition costs and application materials here to apply by the Jan. 28 deadline.

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Western Water January 14, 2022 Colorado River Basin Map By Douglas E. Beeman

As the Colorado River Shrinks, Can the Basin Find an Equitable Solution in Sharing the River’s Waters?
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Drought and climate change are raising concerns that a century-old Compact that divided the river’s waters could force unwelcome cuts in use for the upper watershed

Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, a key Colorado River reservoir that has seen its water level plummet after two decades of drought. Climate scientist Brad Udall calls himself the skunk in the room when it comes to the Colorado River. Armed with a deck of PowerPoint slides and charts that highlight the Colorado River’s worsening math, the Colorado State University scientist offers a grim assessment of the river’s future: Runoff from the river’s headwaters is declining, less water is flowing into Lake Powell – the key reservoir near the Arizona-Utah border – and at the same time, more water is being released from the reservoir than it can sustainably provide.

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Tour March 16, 2022 - 7:30am - March 18, 2022 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2022
Field Trip - March 16-18

The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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Western Water December 10, 2021 Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-A Colorado River Veteran Takes on Top Water & Science Post at Interior Department By Douglas E. Beeman

A Colorado River Veteran Takes on the Top Water & Science Post at Interior Department
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Tanya Trujillo brings two decades of experience on Colorado River issues as she takes on the challenges of a river basin stressed by climate change

Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Interior Secretary for Water and Science For more than 20 years, Tanya Trujillo has been immersed in the many challenges of the Colorado River, the drought-stressed lifeline for 40 million people from Denver to Los Angeles and the source of irrigation water for more than 5 million acres of winter lettuce, supermarket melons and other crops.

Trujillo has experience working in both the Upper and Lower Basins of the Colorado River, basins that split the river’s water evenly but are sometimes at odds with each other. She was a lawyer for the state of New Mexico, one of four states in the Upper Colorado River Basin, when key operating guidelines for sharing shortages on the river were negotiated in 2007. She later worked as executive director for the Colorado River Board of California, exposing her to the different perspectives and challenges facing California and the other states in the river’s Lower Basin.

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Announcement December 9, 2021

Apply for Our Inaugural Colorado River Water Leaders Class
Foundation to launch new program during the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact; join Dec. 21 virtual Q&A session

California Water Leaders at Palo Verde DamKnown for our popular Water Leaders program in California – about to mark its 25th anniversary – we are now launching a Colorado River Water Leaders program in 2022, the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact.

The biennial program will select rising stars from the seven U.S. states that rely on the river – California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – to participate in the seven-month class designed for working professionals. Class members will explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest river, deepen their water knowledge and build leadership skills. 

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Western Water August 27, 2021 Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Delta Water-Starved Colorado River Delta Gets Another Shot of Life from the River’s Flows By Gary Pitzer

Water-Starved Colorado River Delta Gets Another Shot of Life from the River’s Flows
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Despite water shortages along the drought-stressed river, experimental flows resume in Mexico to revive trees and provide habitat for birds and wildlife

Water flowing into a Colorado River Delta restoration site in Mexico.Water is flowing once again to the Colorado River’s delta in Mexico, a vast region that was once a natural splendor before the iconic Western river was dammed and diverted at the turn of the last century, essentially turning the delta into a desert.

In 2012, the idea emerged that water could be intentionally sent down the river to inundate the delta floodplain and regenerate native cottonwood and willow trees, even in an overallocated river system. Ultimately, dedicated flows of river water were brokered under cooperative efforts by the U.S. and Mexican governments.

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Western Water June 25, 2021 Colorado River Basin Map As Climate Change Turns Up The Heat in Las Vegas, Water Managers Try to Wring New Savings to Stretch Supply By Gary Pitzer

As Climate Change Turns Up The Heat in Las Vegas, Water Managers Try to Wring New Savings to Stretch Supply
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Rising temperatures are expected to drive up water demand as historic drought in the Colorado River Basin imperils Southern Nevada’s key water source

Las Vegas has reduced its water consumption even as its population has increased. Las Vegas, known for its searing summertime heat and glitzy casino fountains, is projected to get even hotter in the coming years as climate change intensifies. As temperatures rise, possibly as much as 10 degrees by end of the century, according to some models, water demand for the desert community is expected to spike. That is not good news in a fast-growing region that depends largely on a limited supply of water from an already drought-stressed Colorado River.

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Western Water May 21, 2021 Layperson's Guide to the State Water Project MWD's Jeff Kightlinger Reflects On Building Big Things, Essential Partnerships and His Hopes For the Delta By Gary Pitzer

MWD’s Jeff Kightlinger Reflects On Building Big Things, Essential Partnerships and His Hopes For the Delta
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Veteran Water Boss, Retiring After 25 Years With SoCal Water Giant, Discusses ‘Permanent’ Drought, Conservation Gains & the Struggling Colorado River

Jeff Kightlinger, longtime general manager of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.When you oversee the largest supplier of treated water in the United States, you tend to think big.

Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for the last 15 years, has focused on diversifying his agency’s water supply and building security through investment. That means looking beyond MWD’s borders to ensure the reliable delivery of water to two-thirds of California’s population.

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Western Water November 20, 2020 By Gary Pitzer

Milestone Colorado River Management Plan Mostly Worked Amid Epic Drought, Review Finds
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Draft assessment of 2007 Interim Guidelines expected to provide a guide as talks begin on new river operating rules for the iconic Southwestern river

At full pool, Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States by volume. but two decades of drought have dramatically dropped the water level behind Hoover Dam.Twenty years ago, the Colorado River Basin’s hydrology began tumbling into a historically bad stretch. The weather turned persistently dry. Water levels in the system’s anchor reservoirs of Lake Powell and Lake Mead plummeted. A river system relied upon by nearly 40 million people, farms and ecosystems across the West was in trouble. And there was no guide on how to respond.

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Western Water November 6, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map By Gary Pitzer

A Colorado River Leader Who Brokered Key Pacts to Aid West’s Vital Water Artery Assesses His Legacy and the River’s Future
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Terry Fulp, regional Reclamation director, urges continued collaboration and cooperation to meet the river's tough water management challenges ahead

Terry FulpManaging water resources in the Colorado River Basin is not for the timid or those unaccustomed to big challenges. Careers are devoted to responding to all the demands put upon the river: water supply, hydropower, recreation and environmental protection.

All of this while the Basin endures a seemingly endless drought and forecasts of increasing dryness in the future.

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Western Water September 11, 2020 By Gary Pitzer

The Colorado River is awash in data vital to its management, but making sense of it all is a challenge
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Major science report that highlights scientific shortcomings and opportunities in the Basin could aid water managers as they rewrite river's operating rules

The Colorado River threading its way through a desert canyon near Lee Ferry, Arizona. Practically every drop of water that flows through the meadows, canyons and plains of the Colorado River Basin has reams of science attached to it. Snowpack, streamflow and tree ring data all influence the crucial decisions that guide water management of the iconic Western river every day.

Dizzying in its scope, detail and complexity, the scientific information on the Basin’s climate and hydrology has been largely scattered in hundreds of studies and reports. Some studies may conflict with others, or at least appear to. That’s problematic for a river that’s a lifeline for 40 million people and more than 4 million acres of irrigated farmland.

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Aquapedia background September 4, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map

Colorado River Compact

Signing of the Colorado River Compact in 1922The Colorado River Compact of 1922 marked the first time in U.S. history that more than three states negotiated an agreement among themselves to apportion the waters of a stream or river.

The compact is the cornerstone of the “Law of the River” – a complex set of interstate compacts, federal laws, court decisions and decrees, contracts and federal actions that regulate use of the Colorado River.

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Western Water July 17, 2020 Long Criticized For Inaction At Salton Sea, California Says It’s All-in On Effort To Preserve State’s Largest Lake Gary Pitzer

Long Criticized For Inaction At Salton Sea, California Says It’s All-In On Effort To Preserve State’s Largest Lake
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Dust suppression, habitat are key elements in long-term plan to aid sea, whose ills have been a sore point in Colorado River management

The Salton Sea is a major nesting, wintering and stopover site for about 400 bird species. Out of sight and out of mind to most people, the Salton Sea in California’s far southeast corner has challenged policymakers and local agencies alike to save the desert lake from becoming a fetid, hyper-saline water body inhospitable to wildlife and surrounded by clouds of choking dust.

The sea’s problems stretch beyond its boundaries in Imperial and Riverside counties and threaten to undermine multistate management of the Colorado River. A 2019 Drought Contingency Plan for the Lower Colorado River Basin was briefly stalled when the Imperial Irrigation District, holding the river’s largest water allocation, balked at participating in the plan because, the district said, it ignored the problems of the Salton Sea.  

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Western Water June 12, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map A Key Player On Colorado River Issues Seeks To Balance Competing Water Demands In The River's Upper Basin Gary Pitzer

A Key Player On Colorado River Issues Seeks To Balance Competing Water Demands In The River’s Upper Basin
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Colorado’s water chief Becky Mitchell, now the state’s point person on the Upper Colorado River Commission, brings decades of water know-how to state, interstate assignments

Becky Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board since 2017 and the state’s representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission.Colorado is home to the headwaters of the Colorado River and the water policy decisions made in the Centennial State reverberate throughout the river’s sprawling basin that stretches south to Mexico. The stakes are huge in a basin that serves 40 million people, and responding to the water needs of the economy, productive agriculture, a robust recreational industry and environmental protection takes expertise, leadership and a steady hand.

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Western Water May 15, 2020 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Questions Simmer About Lake Powell’s Future As Drought, Climate Change Point To A Drier Colorado River Basin
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: A key reservoir for Colorado River storage program, Powell faces demands from stakeholders in Upper and Lower Basins with different water needs as runoff is forecast to decline

Persistent drought in the Colorado River Basin combined with the coordinated operations with Lake Mead has left Lake Powell consistently about half-full. Sprawled across a desert expanse along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s nearly 100-foot high bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full. How those challenges play out as demand grows for the river’s water amid a changing climate is fueling simmering questions about Powell’s future.

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Tour May 20, 2021 - 2:30pm - 5:30pm Nick Gray Learn About Infrastructure and Environmental Restoration During Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2021
A Virtual Journey - May 20

This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour. 

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Western Water January 16, 2020 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Douglas E. Beeman

Water Resource Innovation, Hard-Earned Lessons and Colorado River Challenges — Western Water Year in Review
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK-Our 2019 articles spanned the gamut from groundwater sustainability and drought resiliency to collaboration and innovation

Smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire as viewed from Lake Oroville in Northern California. Innovative efforts to accelerate restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires. Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address persistent challenges facing the Colorado River. 

These were among the issues Western Water explored in 2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed them.

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Western Water December 13, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Can a Grand Vision Solve the Colorado River’s Challenges? Or Will Incremental Change Offer Best Hope for Success?
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: With talks looming on a new operating agreement for the river, a debate has emerged over the best approach to address its challenges

Photo of Lake Mead and Hoover DamThe Colorado River is arguably one of the hardest working rivers on the planet, supplying water to 40 million people and a large agricultural economy in the West. But it’s under duress from two decades of drought and decisions made about its management will have exceptional ramifications for the future, especially as impacts from climate change are felt.

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Western Water December 13, 2019 Jenn Bowles Jennifer Bowles

Exploring Different Approaches for Solving the Colorado River’s Myriad Challenges
EDITOR’S NOTE: We examine a debate that emerged from our Colorado River Symposium over whether incrementalism or grand vision is the best path forward

Jenn Bowles, Water Education Foundation Executive DirectorEvery other year we hold an invitation-only Colorado River Symposium attended by various stakeholders from across the seven Western states and Mexico that rely on the iconic river. We host this three-day event in Santa Fe, N.M., where the 1922 Colorado River Compact was signed, as part of our mission to catalyze critical conversations to build bridges and inform collaborative decision-making.

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Western Water September 12, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Could “Black Swan” Events Spawned by Climate Change Wreak Havoc in the Colorado River Basin?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Scientists say a warming planet increases odds of extreme drought and flood; officials say they’re trying to include those possibilities in their plans

Runoff from what some describe as an "epic flood" in 1983 strained the capacity of Glen Canyon Dam to convey water fast enough.  The Colorado River Basin’s 20 years of drought and the dramatic decline in water levels at the river’s key reservoirs have pressed water managers to adapt to challenging conditions. But even more extreme — albeit rare — droughts or floods that could overwhelm water managers may lie ahead in the Basin as the effects of climate change take hold, say a group of scientists. They argue that stakeholders who are preparing to rewrite the operating rules of the river should plan now for how to handle these so-called “black swan” events so they’re not blindsided.

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Announcement September 11, 2019

Save The Dates For Next Year’s Water 101 Workshop and Lower Colorado River Tour
Applications for 2020 Water Leaders class will be available by the first week of October

Dates are now set for two key Foundation events to kick off 2020 — our popular Water 101 Workshop, scheduled for Feb. 20 at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, and our Lower Colorado River Tour, which will run from March 11-13.

In addition, applications will be available by the first week of October for our 2020 class of Water Leaders, our competitive yearlong program for early to mid-career up-and-coming water professionals. To learn more about the program, check out our Water Leaders program page.

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Western Water August 8, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

A Rancher-Led Group Is Boosting the Health of the Colorado River Near Its Headwaters
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: A Colorado partnership is engaged in a river restoration effort to aid farms and fish habitat that could serve as a model across the West

Strategic placement of rocks promotes a more natural streamflow that benefits ranchers and fish. High in the headwaters of the Colorado River, around the hamlet of Kremmling, Colorado, generations of families have made ranching and farming a way of life, their hay fields and cattle sustained by the river’s flow. But as more water was pulled from the river and sent over the Continental Divide to meet the needs of Denver and other cities on the Front Range, less was left behind to meet the needs of ranchers and fish.

“What used to be a very large river that inundated the land has really become a trickle,” said Mely Whiting, Colorado counsel for Trout Unlimited. “We estimate that 70 percent of the flow on an annual average goes across the Continental Divide and never comes back.”

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Western Water July 11, 2019 California Water Map

Your Don’t-Miss Roundup of Summer Reading From Western Water

Dear Western Water reader, 

Clockwise, from top: Lake Powell, on a drought-stressed Colorado River; Subsidence-affected bridge over the Friant-Kern Canal in the San Joaquin Valley;  A homeless camp along the Sacramento River near Old Town Sacramento; Water from a desalination plant in Southern California.Summer is a good time to take a break, relax and enjoy some of the great beaches, waterways and watersheds around California and the West. We hope you’re getting a chance to do plenty of that this July.

But in the weekly sprint through work, it’s easy to miss some interesting nuggets you might want to read. So while we’re taking a publishing break to work on other water articles planned for later this year, we want to help you catch up on Western Water stories from the first half of this year that you might have missed. 

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Western Water May 23, 2019 Gary Pitzer

150 Years After John Wesley Powell Ventured Down the Colorado River, How Should We Assess His Legacy in the West?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: University of Colorado’s Charles Wilkinson on Powell, Water and the American West

We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things.

~John Wesley Powell

Explorer John Wesley Powell and Paiute Chief Tau-Gu looking over the Virgin River in 1873.Powell scrawled those words in his journal as he and his expedition paddled their way into the deep walls of the Grand Canyon on a stretch of the Colorado River in August 1869. Three months earlier, the 10-man group had set out on their exploration of the iconic Southwest river by hauling their wooden boats into a major tributary of the Colorado, the Green River in Wyoming, for their trip into the “great unknown,” as Powell described it.

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Western Water May 9, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

With Drought Plan in Place, Colorado River Stakeholders Face Even Tougher Talks Ahead On The River’s Future
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Talks are about to begin on a potentially sweeping agreement that could reimagine how the Colorado River is managed

Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam, shows the effects of nearly two decades of drought. Even as stakeholders in the Colorado River Basin celebrate the recent completion of an unprecedented drought plan intended to stave off a crashing Lake Mead, there is little time to rest. An even larger hurdle lies ahead as they prepare to hammer out the next set of rules that could vastly reshape the river’s future.

Set to expire in 2026, the current guidelines for water deliveries and shortage sharing, launched in 2007 amid a multiyear drought, were designed to prevent disputes that could provoke conflict.

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Western Water April 11, 2019 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map Gary Pitzer

Bruce Babbitt Urges Creation of Bay-Delta Compact as Way to End ‘Culture of Conflict’ in California’s Key Water Hub
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Former Interior secretary says Colorado River Compact is a model for achieving peace and addressing environmental and water needs in the Delta

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt gives the Anne J. Schneider Lecture April 3 at Sacramento's Crocker Art Museum.  Bruce Babbitt, the former Arizona governor and secretary of the Interior, has been a thoughtful, provocative and sometimes forceful voice in some of the most high-profile water conflicts over the last 40 years, including groundwater management in Arizona and the reduction of California’s take of the Colorado River. In 2016, former California Gov. Jerry Brown named Babbitt as a special adviser to work on matters relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Delta tunnels plan.

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Western Water March 14, 2019 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

‘Mission-Oriented’ Colorado River Veteran Takes the Helm as the US Commissioner of IBWC
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Jayne Harkins’ duties include collaboration with Mexico on Colorado River supply, water quality issues

Jayne Harkins, the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission.For the bulk of her career, Jayne Harkins has devoted her energy to issues associated with the management of the Colorado River, both with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.

Now her career is taking a different direction. Harkins, 58, was appointed by President Trump last August to take the helm of the United States section of the U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees myriad water matters between the two countries as they seek to sustainably manage the supply and water quality of the Colorado River, including its once-thriving Delta in Mexico, and other rivers the two countries share. She is the first woman to be named the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission for either the United States or Mexico in the commission’s 129-year history.

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Tour March 11, 2020 - 7:30am - March 13, 2020 - 6:30pm Nick Gray New Experience Announced for Lower Colorado River Tour: Topock Gorge Boat Trip Get a 'Hard Hat' Tour of Hoover Dam and Visit Lake Mead on Lower Colorado River Tour Take the Pulse of the ‘Lifeline of the Southwest’ on the Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2020
Field Trip - March 11-13

This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour. 

Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
View map
  • Dan Bunk & Mike Bernardo Presentation
  • Seth Shanahan Presentation
  • Chuck Cullom Presentation
  • Vineetha Kartha Presentation
  • Tina Shields Presentation
  • Kevin Hempe Presentation
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Western Water February 28, 2019 Groundwater Education Bundle Gary Pitzer

Imported Water Built Southern California; Now Santa Monica Aims To Wean Itself Off That Supply
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Santa Monica is tapping groundwater, rainwater and tighter consumption rules to bring local supply and demand into balance

The Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) treats dry weather urban runoff to remove pollutants such as sediment, oil, grease, and pathogens for nonpotable use.Imported water from the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on imported water.

Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s, Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.

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Western Water January 4, 2019 Douglas E. Beeman

Women Leading in Water, Colorado River Drought and Promising Solutions — Western Water Year in Review

Dear Western Water readers:

Women named in the last year to water leadership roles (clockwise, from top left): Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources; Gloria Gray,  chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner; Jayne Harkins,  commissioner, International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission.The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.

These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.

We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:

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Western Water December 20, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

As Colorado River Stakeholders Draft a Drought Plan, the Margin for Error in Managing Water Supplies Narrows
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Climate report and science studies point toward a drier Basin with less runoff and a need to re-evaluate water management

This aerial view of Hoover Dam shows how far the level of Lake Mead has fallen due to ongoing drought conditions.As stakeholders labor to nail down effective and durable drought contingency plans for the Colorado River Basin, they face a stark reality: Scientific research is increasingly pointing to even drier, more challenging times ahead.

The latest sobering assessment landed the day after Thanksgiving, when U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Fourth National Climate Assessment concluded that Earth’s climate is changing rapidly compared to the pace of natural variations that have occurred throughout its history, with greenhouse gas emissions largely the cause.

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Western Water November 2, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

As Shortages Loom in the Colorado River Basin, Indian Tribes Seek to Secure Their Water Rights
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: A study of tribal water rights could shed light on future Indian water use

Aerial view of the lower Colorado RiverAs the Colorado River Basin becomes drier and shortage conditions loom, one great variable remains: How much of the river’s water belongs to Native American tribes?

Native Americans already use water from the Colorado River and its tributaries for a variety of purposes, including leasing it to non-Indian users. But some tribes aren’t using their full federal Indian reserved water right and others have water rights claims that have yet to be resolved. Combined, tribes have rights to more water than some states in the Colorado River Basin.

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Western Water September 21, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Despite Risk of Unprecedented Shortage on the Colorado River, Reclamation Commissioner Sees Room for Optimism
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Commissioner Brenda Burman, in address at Foundation’s Water Summit, also highlights Shasta Dam plan

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda BurmanThe Colorado River Basin is more than likely headed to unprecedented shortage in 2020 that could force supply cuts to some states, but work is “furiously” underway to reduce the risk and avert a crisis, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman told an audience of California water industry people.

During a keynote address at the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento, Burman said there is opportunity for Colorado River Basin states to control their destiny, but acknowledged that in water, there are no guarantees that agreement can be reached.

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Western Water September 7, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Can Steadier Releases from Glen Canyon Dam Make Colorado River ‘Buggy’ Enough for Fish and Wildlife?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Ted Kennedy, U.S. Geological Survey aquatic scientist

U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist Ted Kennedy collects aquatic invertebrates in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.Water means life for all the Grand Canyon’s inhabitants, including the many varieties of insects that are a foundation of the ecosystem’s food web. But hydropower operations upstream on the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam, in Northern Arizona near the Utah border, disrupt the natural pace of insect reproduction as the river rises and falls, sometimes dramatically. Eggs deposited at the river’s edge are often left high and dry and their loss directly affects available food for endangered fish such as the humpback chub.

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Western Water August 10, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

New Leader Takes Over as the Upper Colorado River Commission Grapples With Less Water and a Drier Climate
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission

Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River CommissionAmy Haas recently became the first non-engineer and the first woman to serve as executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission in its 70-year history, putting her smack in the center of a host of daunting challenges facing the Upper Colorado River Basin.

Yet those challenges will be quite familiar to Haas, an attorney who for the past year has served as deputy director and general counsel of the commission. (She replaced longtime Executive Director Don Ostler). She has a long history of working within interstate Colorado River governance, including representing New Mexico as its Upper Colorado River commissioner and playing a central role in the negotiation of the recently signed U.S.-Mexico agreement known as Minute 323.

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Western Water June 15, 2018 Jenn Bowles Colorado River Basin Map Jennifer Bowles

Domino Effect: As Arizona Searches For a Unifying Voice, a Drought Plan for the Lower Colorado River Is Stalled
EDITOR'S NOTE: Finding solutions to the Colorado River — or any disputed river —may be the most important role anyone can play

Nowhere is the domino effect in Western water policy played out more than on the Colorado River, and specifically when it involves the Lower Basin states of California, Nevada and Arizona. We are seeing that play out now as the three states strive to forge a Drought Contingency Plan. Yet that plan can’t be finalized until Arizona finds a unifying voice between its major water players, an effort you can read more about in the latest in-depth article of Western Water.

Even then, there are some issues to resolve just within California.

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Western Water June 15, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

As Colorado River Levels Drop, Pressure Grows On Arizona To Complete A Plan For Water Shortages
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: A dispute over who speaks for Arizona has stalled work with California, Nevada on Drought Contingency Plan

Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

It’s high-stakes time in Arizona. The state that depends on the Colorado River to help supply its cities and farms — and is first in line to absorb a shortage — is seeking a unified plan for water supply management to join its Lower Basin neighbors, California and Nevada, in a coordinated plan to preserve water levels in Lake Mead before they run too low.

If the lake’s elevation falls below 1,075 feet above sea level, the secretary of the Interior would declare a shortage and Arizona’s deliveries of Colorado River water would be reduced by 320,000 acre-feet. Arizona says that’s enough to serve about 1 million households in one year.

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Western Water May 18, 2018 Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

Could the Arizona Desert Offer California and the West a Guide to Solving Groundwater Problems?
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Environmental Defense Fund report highlights strategies from Phoenix and elsewhere for managing demands on groundwater

Skyline of Phoenix, ArizonaAs California embarks on its unprecedented mission to harness groundwater pumping, the Arizona desert may provide one guide that local managers can look to as they seek to arrest years of overdraft.

Groundwater is stressed by a demand that often outpaces natural and artificial recharge. In California, awareness of groundwater’s importance resulted in the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 that aims to have the most severely depleted basins in a state of balance in about 20 years.

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Tour April 11, 2018 - April 13, 2018

Lower Colorado River Tour 2018

Lower Colorado River Tour participants at Hoover Dam.

We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
View map
  • Read more about Lower Colorado River Tour
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Announcement March 28, 2018

Learn About Efforts to Improve Weather Forecasting at San Pedro Drought Workshop
Agenda for April 19 event just posted; check out other topics, speakers

Dramatic swings in weather patterns over the past few years in California are stark reminders of climate variability and regional vulnerability. Alternating years of drought and intense rain events make long-term planning for storing and distributing water a challenging task.

Current weather forecasting capabilities provide details for short time horizons. Attend the Paleo Drought Workshop in San Pedro on April 19 to learn more about research efforts to improve sub-seasonal to seasonal precipitation forecasting, known as S2S, and how those models could provide more useful weather scenarios for resource managers.

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Announcement March 21, 2018

Meager Snowfall in the Rockies Extends Drought Conditions Along Colorado River
Experts offer updates on latest conditions and forecasts during Lower Colorado River Tour April 11-13

A drought has lingered in the Colorado River Basin since 2000, causing reservoir storage to decline from nearly full to about half of capacity. So far this year, a meager snowpack in the Rocky Mountains hasn’t helped much.

In fact, forecasters say this winter will likely go down as the sixth-driest on record for the river system that supplies water to seven states, including California, and Mexico.

On our Lower Colorado River Tour, April 11-13, you will meet with water managers from the three Lower Basin states: Nevada, Arizona and California. The three states are working to finalize a Drought Contingency Plan to take voluntary cuts to keep Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, from hitting critical levels and causing a shortage declaration.

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Announcement March 14, 2018

Improve Drought Preparedness By Digging into the Past at April 19th Workshop in San Pedro
Learn new details about historic droughts in Southern California watersheds and how they provide insight on water management today

Cracked dirt as in a droughtCalifornia’s 2012-2016 drought revealed vulnerabilities for water users throughout the state, and the long-term record suggests more challenges may lie ahead.  

An April 19 workshop in San Pedro will highlight new information about drought durations in Southern California watersheds dating back centuries.

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Western Water March 9, 2018 Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

A Colorado River Raft Trip Offers a Firsthand Lesson in the Power of Nature
ON THE ROAD: Writer Gary Pitzer offers a sense of the Grand Canyon that was first explored by John Wesley Powell

Writer Gary Pitzer at the Grand CanyonMost people see the Grand Canyon from the rim, thousands of feet above where the Colorado River winds through it for almost 300 miles.

But to travel it afloat a raft is to experience the wondrous majesty of the canyon and the river itself while gaining perspective about geology, natural beauty and the passage of time.

Beginning at Lees Ferry, some 30,000 people each year launch downriver on commercial or private trips. Before leaving, they are dutifully briefed by a National Park Service ranger who explains to them about the unique environment that awaits them, how to keep it protected and, most importantly, how to protect themselves.

They also are told about the pair of ravens that will inevitably follow them through the canyon, seizing every opportunity to scrounge food.

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Announcement January 31, 2018

Tour the Lower Colorado River in April and See the ‘Lifeblood of the Southwest’ Up Close
Join us as we visit Hoover Dam and other infrastructure, wildlife refuges, farming regions and the Salton Sea

Tickets are now on sale for the Water Education Foundation’s April 11-13 tour of the Lower Colorado River. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to visit key sites along one of the nation’s most famous rivers, including a private tour of Hoover Dam, Central Arizona Project’s Mark Wilmer pumping plant and the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. The tour also visits the Salton Sea, Slab City, the All-American Canal and farming regions in the Imperial and Coachella valleys.

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Announcement December 21, 2017

River Report Examines Climate Change Impact on Colorado River Basin

Drought and climate change are having a noticeable impact on the Colorado River Basin, and that is posing potential challenges to those in the Southwestern United States and Mexico who rely on the river.

In the just-released Winter 2017-18 edition of River Report, writer Gary Pitzer examines what scientists project will be the impact of climate change on the Colorado River Basin, and how water managers are preparing for a future of increasing scarcity.

  • Read more
River Reports December 19, 2017

Winter 2017-18 River Report
A Warmer Future and Increased Risk

Rising temperatures from climate change are having a noticeable effect on how much water is flowing down the Colorado River. Read the latest River Report to learn more about what’s happening, and how water managers are responding.

  • Read River Report Winter 2017-18 here
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Western Water Magazine December 11, 2017

The Colorado River: Living with Risk, Avoiding Curtailment
Fall 2017

This issue of Western Water discusses the challenges facing the Colorado River Basin resulting from persistent drought, climate change and an overallocated river, and how water managers and others are trying to face the future. 

  • Read more
Tour February 27, 2019 - 7:30am - March 1, 2019 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2019

This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour. 

Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
View map
  • Warren Turkett
  • Dan Bunk
  • Seth Shanahan
  • Deanna Ikeya
  • Doyle Wilson
  • Gerald Filipiak
  • Sarah Bartlett
  • Tina Shields
  • Read more
Publication March 27, 2017

Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Delta
Published 2017

The Colorado River Delta once spanned nearly 2 million acres and stretched from the northern tip of the Gulf of California in Mexico to Southern California’s Salton Sea. Today it’s one-tenth that size, yet still an important estuary, wildlife habitat and farming region even though Colorado River flows rarely reach the sea.

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Announcement March 15, 2017

Despite Above-Average Snowfall in the Rockies, Lower Colorado River Likely to Remain in Drought
Experts will update you on the latest conditions and forecasts during our three-day tour

Since 2000, the Colorado River Basin has experienced an historic, extended drought causing reservoir storage in the Colorado River system to decline from nearly full to about half of capacity. For the Lower Basin, a key point has been to maintain the level of Lake Mead to prevent a shortage declaration.

A healthy snowfall in the Rockies has reduced the odds of a shortage this year, but the basin states still must come to terms with a static supply and growing demands, as well as future impacts from climate change.

On our Lower Colorado River Tour, April 5-7, you will meet with water managers from the three Lower Basin states: Nevada, Arizona and California. Federal, state and local agencies will update you on the latest hydrologic conditions and how recent storms might change plans for water supply and storage.

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Aquapedia background December 29, 2016

Quagga mussel

Quagga musselsA troublesome invasive species is the quagga mussel, a tiny freshwater mollusk that attaches itself to water utility infrastructure and reproduces at a rapid rate, causing damage to pipes and pumps.

First found in the Great Lakes in 1988 (dumped with ballast water from overseas ships), the quagga mussel along with the zebra mussel are native to the rivers and lakes of eastern Europe and western Asia, including the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas and the Dneiper River drainage of Ukraine and Ponto-Caspian Sea.  

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Western Water Magazine November 16, 2016

Two Countries, One River: Crafting a New Agreement
Fall 2016

This issue of Western Water examines the ongoing effort between the United States and Mexico to develop a new agreement to the 1944 Treaty that will continue the binational cooperation on constructing Colorado River infrastructure, storing water in Lake Mead and providing instream flows for the Colorado River Delta.

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Western Water Excerpt November 10, 2016 Jenn Bowles

Two Countries, One River: Crafting a New Agreement
Fall 2016

As vital as the Colorado River is to the United States and Mexico, so is the ongoing process by which the two countries develop unique agreements to better manage the river and balance future competing needs.

The prospect is challenging. The river is over allocated as urban areas and farmers seek to stretch every drop of their respective supplies. Since a historic treaty between the two countries was signed in 1944, the United States and Mexico have periodically added a series of arrangements to the treaty called minutes that aim to strengthen the binational ties while addressing important water supply, water quality and environmental concerns.

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Aquapedia background August 30, 2016

Lake Havasu & Parker Dam

Lake Havasu is a reservoir on the Colorado River that supplies water to the Colorado River Aqueduct and Central Arizona Project. It is located at the California/Arizona border, approximately 150 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada and 30 miles southeast of Needles, California.

  • Read more
  • Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River
Aquapedia background August 30, 2016

Lake Mathews

Situated in southwest Riverside County near the Santa Ana Mountains – about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles – Lake Mathews is a major reservoir in Southern California.

  • Read more
  • Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River
Aquapedia background August 25, 2016

All-American Canal

As one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, the Imperial Valley receives its water from the Colorado River via the All-American Canal. Rainfall is scarce in the desert region at less than three inches per year and groundwater is of little value. 

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Western Water Magazine January 15, 2016

Historic Drought and the Colorado River: Today and Tomorrow
November/December 2015

This issue looks at the historic drought that has gripped the Colorado River Basin since 2000 and discusses the lessons learned, the continuing challenges and what the future might hold.

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Western Water Excerpt January 15, 2016 Jenn Bowles

Historic Drought and the Colorado River: Today and Tomorrow
November/December 2015

The dramatic decline in water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell is perhaps the most visible sign of the historic drought that has gripped the Colorado River Basin for the past 16 years. In 2000, the reservoirs stood at nearly 100 percent capacity; today, Lake Powell is at 49 percent capacity while Lake Mead has dropped to 38 percent. Before the late season runoff of Miracle May, it looked as if Mead might drop low enough to trigger the first-ever Lower Basin shortage determination in 2016.

Read the excerpt below from the Sept./Oct. 2015 issue along with the editor’s note. Click here to subscribe to Western Water and get full access.

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Western Water Magazine June 15, 2015

Countdown at the Salton Sea
May/June 2015

This issue looks at the dilemma of the shrinking Salton Sea. The shallow, briny inland lake at the southeastern edge of California is slowly evaporating and becoming more saline – threatening the habitat for fish and birds and worsening air quality as dust from the dry lakebed is whipped by the constant winds.

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Western Water Excerpt June 12, 2015

Countdown at the Salton Sea
May/June 2015

The clock is ticking for the Salton Sea.

The shallow, briny inland lake at the southeastern edge of California is slowly evaporating and becoming more saline – threatening the habitat for fish and birds and worsening air quality as dust from the dry lakebed is whipped by the constant winds.

(Read this excerpt from the May/June 2015 issue along with the editor’s note. Click here to subscribe to Western Water and get full access.)

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Western Water Excerpt December 23, 2014 Jenn Bowles

The Next Steps of the Colorado River Basin Study
November/December 2014

After much time, study and investment, the task of identifying solutions to ensure the long-term sus­tainability of the Colorado River is underway. People from the Upper and Lower basins representing all interest groups are preparing to put their signatures to documents aimed at ensuring the river’s vitality for the next 50 years and beyond.

  • Read more
Tour March 11, 2015 - March 13, 2015 Images from the Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2015
Field Trip (past)

This 3-day, 2-night tour followed the course of the lower Colorado River through Nevada, Arizona and California, and included a private tour of Hoover Dam.

  • Learn More About the Tour
  • Travel Option for the Lower Colorado River Tour
  • General Tour Information
  • Colorado River Basin: Current Conditions and Operational Update - D. Bunk, USDOI
  • Intentionally Created Surplus (ICS) fact sheet
  • Law of the River fact sheet
  • Imperial Dam fact sheet
  • Integrating Agriculture & Conservation: The IID Case Study - T. Shields, IID
  • Bark Beetles, Dust on Snow, and Management under Uncertainty - R. Smith
  • Current Conditions and Water Supply Outlook for the Colorado River Basin - R. Smith
  • The long perspective on Colorado River flow from tree rings - R. Smith
  • Colorado River Commission - W. Turkett
  • Lake Havasu City Water Supply
  • Read more
River Reports June 13, 2014

Cutting Colorado River Use: The California Plan
November/December 1998

This issue updates progress on crafting and implementing California’s 4.4 plan to reduce its use of Colorado River water by 800,000 acre-feet. The state has used as much as 5.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually, but under pressure from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the other six states that share this resource, California’s Colorado River parties have been trying to close the gap between demand and supply. The article – delayed to include the latest information from Babbitt’s Dec.

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River Reports June 13, 2014

The California Plan and the Salton Sea
November/December 2001

This issue updates progress on California’s Colorado River Water Use Plan (commonly called the 4.4 Plan ), with a special focus on the Salton Sea restoration/water transfer dilemma. It also includes information on the proposed MWD-Palo Verde Irrigation District deal, the Colorado River Delta, and the legislative debate in the national and state capitals.

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River Reports June 13, 2014

Can California Make the 4.4 Plan Work?
March/April 2003

With passage of the original Dec. 31, 2002, deadline to have a Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) in place for the Colorado River, California suffered a cutback in the surplus Colorado River flows it had relied upon by years. Further negotiations followed in an attempt to bring the California parties to an agreement. This issue examines the history leading to the QSA, the state of affairs of the so-called 4.4 Plan as of early March, and gives readers a clearer crystal ball with which to speculate about California’s water future on the Colorado River.

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River Reports June 13, 2014

The Ties that Bind: The Evolving Policy of the Colorado River
March/April 2004

This issue of Western Water provides the latest information on some of the philosophical, political and practical ideas being discussed on the river. Some of these issues were discussed at the Water Education Foundation’s Colorado River Symposium, “The Ties that Bind: Policy and the Evolving Law of the Colorado River,” held last fall at The Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe, New Mexico – site of negotiations on the 1922 Colorado River Compact.

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River Reports June 13, 2014

Facing the Future: Modifying Management of the Colorado River
January/February 2006

This issue of Western Water explores the issues surrounding and the components of the Colorado River Basin seven-state proposed agreement released Feb. 3 regarding sharing shortages on the river, and new plans to improve the river’s management. The article includes excerpts from the Foundation’s September 2005 Colorado River Symposium held in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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River Reports June 13, 2014

1922-2007: 85 Years of the Colorado River Compact
November/December 2007

This issue of Western Water marks the 85th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact and considers its role in the past and present on key issues such as federal funding for water projects and international issues. Much of the content for this magazine came from the Foundation’s September Colorado River Symposium, The Colorado River Compact at 85 and Changes on the River.

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Product May 29, 2014

Colorado River Facts Slide Card

This card includes information about the Colorado River, who uses the river, how the river’s water is divided and other pertinent facts about this vital resource for the Southwest. Beautifully illustrated with color photographs.

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Product May 29, 2014

Colorado River Compact 75th Anniversary Symposium Proceedings

In 1997, the Foundation sponsored a three-day, invitation-only symposium at Bishop’s Lodge, New Mexico, site of the 1922 Colorado River Compact signing, to discuss the historical implications of that agreement, current Colorado River issues and future challenges. The 204-page proceedings features the panel discussions and presentations on such issues as the Law of the River, water marketing and environmental restoration.

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Video May 22, 2014

Shaping of the West: 100 Years of Reclamation

30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern day issues.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Colorado River Basin Map
Redesigned in 2017

Redesigned in 2017, this beautiful map depicts the seven Western states that share the Colorado River with Mexico. The Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Mexico. Text on this beautiful, 24×36-inch map, which is suitable for framing, explains the river’s apportionment, history and the need to adapt its management for urban growth and expected climate change impacts.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Nevada Water Map
Published 2004

This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the environment. It features natural and manmade water resources throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers, Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River that forms the state’s eastern boundary.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law
Updated 2020

The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of California water rights law available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation ditch through the complex web of California water rights.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing
Updated 2005

The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides background information on water rights, types of transfers and critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in 1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River transfers and the role of private companies in California’s developing water market. 

Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.

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Publication May 20, 2014 California Water Map

Layperson’s Guide to California Water
Updated 2021

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an excellent overview of the history of water development and use in California. It includes sections on flood management; the state, federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for stretching the water supply such as water marketing and conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a section on the human need for water. 

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Photo gallery May 16, 2014

Images from the Lower Colorado River Tour

Copper Basin
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Maps & Posters April 17, 2014 California Water Bundle

California Water Map
Updated December 2016

A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect gift for the water wonk in your life.

Our 24×36-inch California Water Map is widely known for being the definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts – including federally, state and locally funded projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects, wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado River.

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Tour February 26, 2014 Images from the Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2014
Field Trip (past)

The 2014 tour was held February 26 – 28.

This 3-day, 2-night tour follows the course of the lower Colorado River through Nevada, Arizona and California, and includes a private tour of Hoover Dam.

  • Southern Nevada's Water Needs
  • Colorado River Presentation
  • Atmospheric Rivers and the Colorado Basin
  • Dust on Snow, Bark Beetles and Extreme Events
  • Tree Ring Forecasting
  • Spring 2014 Runoff Outlook
  • Colorado River Basin: Current Conditions and Operarional Update
  • Colorado River Facts
  • Inadvertent Overrun and Payback Policy (IOPP)
  • Law of the River
  • 2014 Forecast of Consumptive Water Use
  • Lake Havasu City Water Supply
  • California Tribal Water Rights
  • IID Imperial Dam
  • IID Water Trasportation
  • Yuma County Ag Stats
  • Acronyms Cheat Sheet
  • The Latest Big Controversy on the Age of the Grand Canyon
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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map

Salton Sea

As part of the historic Colorado River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below sea level.

The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years, creating California’s largest inland body of water. The Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130 miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe. 

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin

Quantification Settlement Agreement

Lining the All-American Canal

The Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), signed in 2003, defined the rights to a portion of Colorado River water for the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The QSA responded to California consistently using more than its annual Colorado River entitlement of 4.4 million acre-feet. Additionally, the water needs of six other Colorado River Basin states had grown, making the river’s shared use increasingly crucial.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Colorado River Water and Mexico

The Mexican Water Treaty of 1944 committed the U.S. to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico on an annual basis, plus an additional 200,000 acre-feet under surplus conditions. The treaty is overseen by the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Colorado River water is delivered to Mexico at Morelos Dam, located 1.1 miles downstream from where the California-Baja California land boundary intersects the river between the town of Los Algodones in northwestern Mexico and Yuma County, Ariz.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Colorado River Delta (in Mexico)

The Colorado River Delta is located at the natural terminus of the Colorado River at the Gulf of California, just south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The desert ecosystem was formed by silt flushed downstream from the Colorado and fresh and brackish water mixing at the Gulf.

The Colorado River Delta once covered 9,650 square miles but has shrunk to less than 1 percent of its original size due to human-made water diversions.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin Colorado River Basin Map

Lower Colorado River Multispecies Conservation Program

Humpback chub

In 2005, the Interior Department launched a program to recover 27 species in the lower Colorado River, including seven the federal government has deemed threatened or endangered or threatened with extinction. The species include fish, birds, bats, mammals, insects, amphibians, reptiles, rodents and plants

The Lower Colorado River Multispecies Conservation Program has a 50-year plan to create at least 8,132 acres of new habitat and restore habitat that has become degraded.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map

Lee Ferry

Lee Ferry

Lee Ferry on the Arizona-Utah border is a key dividing point between the Colorado River’s Upper and Lower basins.

This split is important when it comes to determining how much water will be delivered from the Upper Basin to the Lower Basin [for a description of the Upper and Lower basins, visit the Colorado River page].

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam

Image shows Glen Canyon Dam with Lake Powell in the background.The construction of Glen Canyon Dam in 1964 created Lake Powell. Both are located in north-central Arizona near the Utah border. Lake Powell acts as a holding tank for outflow from the Colorado River Upper Basin States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The water stored in Lake Powell is used for recreation, power generation and delivering water to the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona, and Nevada. 

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

John Wesley Powell

John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was historic and heroic for being first to lead an expedition down the Colorado River in 1869. A major who lost an arm in the Civil War Battle of Shiloh, he was an explorer, geologist, geographer and ethnologist.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Colorado River Water Use 4.4 Plan

California’s Colorado River Water Use Plan (known colloquially as the 4.4 Plan) intends to wean the state from its reliance on the surplus flows from the river and return California to its annual 4.4 million acre-feet basic apportionment of the river.

In the past, California has also used more than its basic apportionment.  Consequently, the U.S. Department of Interior urged California to devise a plan to reduce its water consumption to its basic entitlement.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Colorado River Timeline

600 Ancestral Pueblo and Hohokam Indians develop water distribution systems.

1500 Spanish explorers introduce livestock and ditch systems called acequias.

1847 Mormons arrive in the Salt Lake Valley; begin cultivating farmland.

1859 Oliver Wozencraft promotes idea of irrigating the Imperial Valley.

1865 Lower Colorado River lands begin to be set aside for American Indians.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Colorado River 2007 Interim Guidelines And Drought Contingency Plans

In 2005, after six years of severe drought in the Colorado River Basin, federal officials and representatives of the seven basin states — California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming — began building a framework to better respond to drought conditions and coordinate the operations of the basin’s two key reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The resulting Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead (Interim Guidelines) identified the conditions for shortage determinations and details of coordinated reservoir operations. The 2007 Interim Guidelines remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2025.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014 Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Basin Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Delta

Colorado River

Colorado RiverThe turbulent Colorado River is one of the most heavily regulated and hardest working rivers in the world.

Geography

The Colorado falls some 10,000 feet on its way from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, helping to sustain a range of habitats and ecosystems as it weaves through mountains and deserts.

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  • Colorado River Timeline
Western Water Magazine November 1, 2013

An Era of New Partnerships on the Colorado River
November/December 2013

This printed issue of Western Water examines how the various stakeholders have begun working together to meet the planning challenges for the Colorado River Basin, including agreements with Mexico, increased use of conservation and water marketing, and the goal of accomplishing binational environmental restoration and water-sharing programs.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2012

A Call to Action? The Colorado River Basin Supply and Demand Study
November/December 2012

This printed issue of Western Water examines the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study and what its finding might mean for the future of the lifeblood of the Southwest.

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Western Water Excerpt November 1, 2012 Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

A Call to Action? The Colorado River Basin Supply and Demand Study
November/December 2012

The Colorado River is one of the most heavily relied upon water supply sources in the world, serving 35 million people in seven states and Mexico. The river provides water to large cities, irrigates fields, powers turbines to generate electricity, thrills recreational enthusiasts and serves as a home for birds, fish and wildlife.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2011

Solving the Colorado River Basin’s Math Problem: Adapting to Change
November/December 2011

This printed issue of Western Water explores the historic nature of some of the key agreements in recent years, future challenges, and what leading state representatives identify as potential “worst-case scenarios.” Much of the content for this issue of Western Water came from the in-depth panel discussions at the Colorado River Symposium. The Foundation will publish the full proceedings of the Symposium in 2012.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2010

The Colorado River Drought: A Sobering Glimpse into the Future
November/December 2010

This printed issue of Western Water examines the Colorado River drought, and the ongoing institutional and operational changes underway to maintain the system and meet the future challenges in the Colorado River Basin.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2009

The Colorado River: Building a Sustainable Future
November/December 2009

This printed issue of Western Water explores some of the major challenges facing Colorado River stakeholders: preparing for climate change, forging U.S.-Mexico water supply solutions and dealing with continued growth in the basins states. Much of the content for this issue of Western Water came from the in-depth panel discussions at the September 2009 Colorado River Symposium.

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Western Water Magazine September 1, 2008

Just Add Water? Restoring the Colorado River Delta
September/October 2008

This printed copy of Western Water examines the Colorado River Delta, its ecological significance and the lengths to which international, state and local efforts are targeted and achieving environmental restoration while recognizing the needs of the entire river’s many users.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2007

The Struggle to Secure Water in the Southwest
May/June 2007

This issue of Western Water asks whether a groundwater compact is needed to manage this shared resource today. In the water-stressed West, there will need to be a recognition of sharing water resources or a line will need to be drawn in the sand against future growth.

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Western Water Excerpt May 1, 2007 Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

The Struggle to Secure Water in the Southwest
May/Jun 2007

“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.” – Rep. Wayne Aspinall, D-Colorado, chair, House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, 1959-1973

Rapid population growth and chronic droughts could augur dramatic changes for communities along the lower Colorado River. In Arizona, California and Nevada, a robust economy is spurring communities to find enough water to sustain the steady pace of growth. Established cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix continue their expansion but there is also activity in smaller, rural areas on Arizona’s northwest fringe where developers envision hundreds of thousands of new homes in the coming decades.

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Western Water Magazine July 1, 2005

On the Edge: Defusing Tensions on the Colorado River
July/August 2005

With interstate discussions of critical Colorado River issues seemingly headed for stalemate, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton stepped in May 2 to defuse, or at least defer, a potentially divisive debate over water releases from Lake Powell.

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Western Water Excerpt July 1, 2005 Glenn TottenRita Schmidt Sudman

On the Edge: Defusing Tensions on the Colorado River
Jul/Aug 2005

With interstate discussions of critical Colorado River issues seemingly headed for stalemate, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton stepped in May 2 to defuse, or at least defer, a potentially divisive debate over water releases from Lake Powell. In a letter to governors of the seven Colorado River Basin states, Norton preserved the status quo of river operations for five months, giving states and stakeholders a chance to move back from the edge before positions had hardened on two key issues: (1) shortage guidelines for the Lower Basin and (2) Upper Basin/ Lower Basin reservoir operations, particularly at Lake Powell. But Norton served notice that she wants discussions on those two issues to continue, possibly outside of the annual operation plan (AOP) consultation process, which at least one observer described as unwieldy.

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Western Water Magazine March 1, 2002

The Colorado River: Coming to Consensus Inside: A Conversation with Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley
March/April 2002

Drawn from a special Colorado River stakeholder symposium held in January 2002 at The Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this article provides an overview of several Colorado River issues that may or may not be resolved through consensus. Some of these issues include providing water for the Colorado River Delta, endangered species, dam re-operation and potential future trends around the basin as they relate to the California 4.4 Plan, drought and governance.

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Western Water Excerpt March 1, 2002 Josh NewcomRita Schmidt Sudman

The Colorado River: Coming to Consensus
Mar/Apr 2002

The situation is true anywhere: when resources are stretched, tensions rise. In the arid Southwestern United States, this resource is water and tensions over it have been ever present since the westward migration in the 18th Century. Nowhere in this region has the competition for water been fiercer than in the Colorado River Basin. Whether it is more water for agriculture, more water for cities, more water for American Indian tribes or more water for the environment – there is a continuous quest by parties to obtain additional supplies of this “liquid gold” from the Colorado River. Sometimes the avenue chosen to acquire this desert wealth is the court system, as exemplified by the landmark Arizona v. California dispute that stretched for over 30 years.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 1999

Managing the Colorado River
November/December 1999

Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999 in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional water development of the past has given way to a more collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment while stretching available water supplies. Specific topics addressed include the role of the Interior secretary in the basin, California’s 4.4 plan, water marketing and future challenges identified by participants.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 1999

Managing the Colorado River
November/December 1999

Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999 in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional water development of the past has given way to a more collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment while stretching available water supplies.

  • Read more

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