Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** A "moment of reckoning" has arrived for the Colorado River
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Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Aerial view of Dangling Rope Marina at Lake Powell. Source: Bureau of Reclamation Flickr ([link removed])

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said during a Senate hearing yesterday that sustaining the country’s largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, and ensuring water supplies for 40 million people living in the southwest will require drastic reductions in water deliveries. ([link removed])

The commissioner's testimony followed a weekend of record-breaking temperatures in the southwest ([link removed]) in the midst of the worst drought in 1,200 years ([link removed]) . “A warmer, drier West is what we are seeing today,” Touton told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “And the challenges we are seeing today are unlike anything we have seen in our history.”

In order to avoid a catastrophic scenario, the Bureau of Reclamation is calling for a reduction in water delivery of 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water among the seven Colorado River basin states next year. ([link removed]) For context, the entire allocation of Colorado River water for California is 4.4 million acre-feet per year, while Arizona’s allotment is 2.8 million acre-feet.

John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which supplies water to the Las Vegas area, also testified before the committee. “What has been a slow-motion train wreck for 20 years is accelerating, and the moment of reckoning is near,” said Entsminger. ([link removed]) “We are 150 feet from 25 million Americans losing access to the Colorado River, and the rate of decline is accelerating.”
Quick hits


** Biden tells oil refiners to produce more gas, profit margins are "not acceptable"
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CNBC ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** House passes a major wildlife conservation spending bill
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NPR ([link removed])


** U.S. Forest Service firefighters face a morale crisis
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** A "moment of reckoning" has arrived for the Colorado River
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** BLM speeds up planned gather of wild horses in Colorado
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])


** Graffiti found on dozens of sites in Yosemite National Park
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) | CNN ([link removed]) | SF Gate ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Thousands evacuated as unprecedented flooding forces Yellowstone to close
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CNN ([link removed]) | NPR ([link removed]) | USA Today ([link removed])


** Opinion: Protecting Colorado's public lands is good for children and families
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” If we can’t save the Great Salt Lake, what chance do we have of saving the planet?"
—Economist Paul Krugman, New York Times ([link removed])
Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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Less than 10% of the plastic trash ever produced has been recycled. As stewards of our public lands and waters, Interior will play a leading role in reducing plastic waste's impact on our ecosystems and our planet. Photo by Susan White, @USFWS ([link removed])

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