Click the link to read the article on The Salt Lake Tribune website (Anastasia Hufham). Here’s an excerpt:
May 16, 2024
The states are currently negotiating how the river and its reservoirs should be operated after current agreements expire in 2026.
This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University.
In March, the Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the Lower Basin states (Arizona, California and Nevada) submitted competing proposals to the federal Bureau of Reclamation for managing the Colorado River after current guidelines expire in 2026. The states had to consider the overwhelming demand for the river’s water, contend with future effects of climate change and confront decades of overuse. The Upper Basin claims that only the Lower Basin states should have to reduce their Colorado River water use. Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming draw their share of water straight from the river itself, meaning they bear the brunt of evaporative losses and reduced flows due to climate change. In contrast, Arizona, California and Nevada draw their allocation from water stored in Lake Mead, so they are all but guaranteed their fair share of water each year. The Lower Basin argues that the entire Colorado River Basin should share the sacrifice of cuts…
Another point of agreement between the basins: states should use actual hydrologic conditions to determine how to operate the country’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, instead of unreliable forecasts.
