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As drought continues in the West and reservoir levels approach critical thresholds, Colorado River Basin water managers who gathered at a conference on Friday say they don't have a comprehensive solution for the drying river system. The conference, hosted by the Colorado River District, comes one month after states missed a federal deadline to propose ways to cut their use of water supplied by the Colorado River. Colorado River District General Manager Andy Mueller told attendees that scientists now recommend that water managers plan for the river to provide just 9 million acre-feet of water annually, a 25 percent cut from 2021.
"If we continue in the way we're operating now, if we don't reduce our demands, we're going to really see those reservoirs really hit a crisis," Mueller said. "I'm not talking about in 20 years, I'm talking about in the next three or four years. We have a period of time here to change our use."
Under the terms of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, water from the Colorado River is divided equally between the Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and the Lower Basin states (Arizona, California, and Nevada). Some tension between Upper and Lower Basin water managers was evident during the conference, with Upper Basin managers saying Lower Basin states need to take initiative in water savings. While the Upper Basin states did propose a plan earlier this year on how to keep more water in the river, it doesn’t include any mandatory water cuts. Mueller said that the state of Colorado is working on specific conservation plans, but doesn’t intend to release them until the Lower Basin states act. Lower Basin managers emphasized the water savings they have already made and asked that states like Colorado act now and stop waiting for the Lower Basin to act.
One potential solution discussed at the conference is to ask the federal government to help account for the water that is lost through evaporation and transit when water moves from reservoirs to downstream states. Mueller suggests that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation should force states to account for that evaporation. However, that change alone will not achieve the level of cutbacks that are required, and both Upper and Lower Basin states will need to come up with their own plans for water cuts.
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All the soldiers in our army today are following in the historical footsteps of those who have gone before them. The 10th Mountain soldiers are no exception. The heritage, legacy, spirit and ethos of today’s 10th Mountain Division springs from its beginnings at Camp Hale.”
