Drought over? Spring outlook finds relief -- and flood risk
1 year, 9 months ago

Drought over? Spring outlook finds relief -- and flood risk

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Record snowfall and rain have helped to loosen drought’s grip on parts of the western U.S. as national forecasters and climate experts warned Thursday that some areas should expect more flooding as the snow begins to melt. Paul Miller, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, said that sounds like a lot of water for one of the nation’s largest reservoirs, but it still will be only one-third full. “It’s definitely moving in the right direction, but we’re far from filling the reservoirs in the Colorado River system and we’re far from being at a comfortable point from a water supply perspective,” Miller said during Thursday’s NOAA briefing. “We’ve pretty much blown past all kinds of averages and normals in the Lower Colorado Basin,” Miller said, not unlike other western basins. “We’ve seen where we can have multiple good years in place like the San Luis Valley when it comes to rainfall or snowpack and then one drought year can erase a decade of progress,” he said.

Water Drought Nevada Season Colorado Utah Miller River Noaa  outlook  parts  colorado  wet  state  drought  relief  reservoirs  risk  water  flood  season  finds  snowpack  river  spring

History of this topic

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will lose same amount of Colorado River water next year as in 2024
4 months, 1 week ago

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will lose same amount of Colorado River water next year as in 2024

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will continue to live with less water next year from the Colorado River after the U.S. government on Thursday announced water cuts that preserve the status quo. Officials do so based on water levels at Lake Mead, one of the river’s two main reservoirs that act as barometers of its health. Based on those …

As Colorado River states await water cuts, they struggle to find agreement on longer-term plans
4 months, 1 week ago

As Colorado River states await water cuts, they struggle to find agreement on longer-term plans

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The federal government is expected to announce water cuts soon that would affect some of the 40 million people reliant on the Colorado River, the powerhouse of the U.S. West. In 2007, following years of drought, the seven U.S. states in the basin — Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — and the federal government …

US dedicates $60 million to saving water along the Rio Grande as flows shrink and demands grow
7 months, 1 week ago

US dedicates $60 million to saving water along the Rio Grande as flows shrink and demands grow

Hindustan Times  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. government is dedicating $60 million over the next few years to projects along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas to make the river more resilient in the face of climate change and growing demands. “When drought conditions like this strike, we know it doesn’t just impact one community, it affects all …

US dedicates $60 million to saving water along the Rio Grande as flows shrink and demands grow
7 months, 1 week ago

US dedicates $60 million to saving water along the Rio Grande as flows shrink and demands grow

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. government is dedicating $60 million over the next few years to projects along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas to make the river more resilient in the face of climate change and growing demands. “When drought conditions like this strike, we know it doesn’t just impact one community, it affects all …

‘We can do better’: Western states divided over long-term plans for Colorado River water
9 months, 2 weeks ago

‘We can do better’: Western states divided over long-term plans for Colorado River water

LA Times  

With climate change compounding the strains on the Colorado River, seven Western states are starting to consider long-term plans for reducing water use to prevent the river’s reservoirs from reaching critically low levels in the years to come. In one camp, the three states in the river’s lower basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — say their approach would share …

States in Colorado River basin pitch new ways to absorb shortages but clash on the approach
9 months, 2 weeks ago

States in Colorado River basin pitch new ways to absorb shortages but clash on the approach

Associated Press  

SANTA ANA, Calif. — The seven U.S. states that draw water from the Colorado River basin are suggesting new ways to determine how the increasingly scarce resource is divvied up when the river can’t provide what it historically promised. The seven U.S. states that draw water from the Colorado River basin are suggesting new ways to determine how the increasingly …

Risks ease for Colorado River reservoirs after wet winter, but long-term challenges loom
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Risks ease for Colorado River reservoirs after wet winter, but long-term challenges loom

LA Times  

After a wet year and a push to conserve water in the Southwest, federal officials say the risk of the Colorado River’s reservoirs declining to critically low levels has substantially eased for the next couple of years. Touton called it a significant milestone, saying the Biden administration has successfully “staved off the immediate possibility of the Colorado River system’s reservoirs …

Federal officials say plan for water cuts from 3 Western states is enough to protect Colorado River
1 year, 1 month ago

Federal officials say plan for water cuts from 3 Western states is enough to protect Colorado River

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Federal officials said Wednesday that conditions have improved on the Colorado River to the point that a plan by California, Arizona and Nevada to voluntarily reduce water use should help keep the river basin on stable footing for the next few years. The U.S. Department of the Interior said in a statement that the risk of reaching …

Feds say Colorado River water cuts are sufficient to stave off immediate risks
1 year, 1 month ago

Feds say Colorado River water cuts are sufficient to stave off immediate risks

LA Times  

Current plans for reducing water use along the Colorado River should be sufficient to stave off the risk of reservoirs reaching critically low levels over the next three years, according to a new analysis by the federal government. Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau said the ongoing conservation efforts by states in the Colorado River Basin have helped ease the immediate …

Western states will not lose as much Colorado River water in 2024, despite long-term challenges
1 year, 4 months ago

Western states will not lose as much Colorado River water in 2024, despite long-term challenges

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Federal officials said Tuesday they will ease water cuts for Western states reliant on the Colorado River in 2024, thanks to a slightly improved outlook, but long-term challenges remain. The tribe gets Colorado River water through the the same aqueduct system that delivers river water to Arizona’s major cities. One farming district in Arizona’s Pinal County outside of …

New Mexico lawmakers question fallowing as way to reduce water use along the Rio Grande
1 year, 5 months ago

New Mexico lawmakers question fallowing as way to reduce water use along the Rio Grande

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Some New Mexico lawmakers are warning that leaving farmland unplanted along one of North America’s longest rivers won’t be a long-term answer to ensuring Texas gets its share of the Rio Grande under a pending settlement that would end a yearslong fight over the river’s management. State Sen. Joseph Cervantes, a Democrat from Las Cruces, argued that …

Feds announce start of public process to reshape key rules on Colorado River water use by 2027
1 year, 6 months ago

Feds announce start of public process to reshape key rules on Colorado River water use by 2027

Associated Press  

LAS VEGAS — A public process started Thursday to reshape the way Colorado River water is distributed, with federal officials promising to collect comments about updating and enacting rules in 2027 to continue providing hydropower, drinking water and irrigation to farms, cities and tribes in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico. Interior Department said it will publish in the Federal …

Winter storms boost Central Valley water supplies, but aquifer levels remain depleted
1 year, 6 months ago

Winter storms boost Central Valley water supplies, but aquifer levels remain depleted

LA Times  

Snow geese gather on a flooded farm near Dunnigan, in Yolo County, in January. The historic winter storms that filled California’s reservoirs and covered the Sierra Nevada with snow have brought a major boost to water supplies across Central Valley watersheds — an increase that measurements from NASA satellites show is the largest year-over-year gain in more than two decades …

Breakthrough proposal would aid drought-stricken Colorado River as 3 Western states offer cuts
1 year, 7 months ago

Breakthrough proposal would aid drought-stricken Colorado River as 3 Western states offer cuts

Associated Press  

LAS VEGAS — Arizona, Nevada and California said Monday they’re willing to cut back on their use of the dwindling Colorado River in exchange for money from the federal government -- and to avoid forced cuts as drought threatens the key water supply for the U.S. West. Though adoption of the plan isn’t certain, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille …

Half of US West out of drought, but not fully recovered
1 year, 7 months ago

Half of US West out of drought, but not fully recovered

Associated Press  

DENVER — Nearly half of the U.S. West has emerged from drought this spring, but the welcome wet conditions haven’t entirely replenished the region, scientists said Tuesday. Hydrologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs …

Editorial: Drought and flood, California’s double whammy
1 year, 8 months ago

Editorial: Drought and flood, California’s double whammy

LA Times  

Just as federal officials were laying out alternative scenarios last week for steep water supply cuts from the Colorado River due to the drying Southwest, California officials were warning that this year’s historic Sierra snowpack could flood much of the state later this year. Lake Mead, and farther up the Colorado River, Lake Powell — Southern California’s two big out-of-state …

What might cuts to dwindling Colorado River mean for states?
1 year, 8 months ago

What might cuts to dwindling Colorado River mean for states?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration floated two ideas this week to reduce water usage from the dwindling Colorado River, which supplies 40 million people. Tuesday’s analysis from the Interior Department considers two ways to force cuts in the water supply for Arizona, Nevada and California: use the existing water priority system or the same percentage across the board. California is …

In Colorado River talks, still no agreement about water cuts
1 year, 8 months ago

In Colorado River talks, still no agreement about water cuts

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

Drought-ravaged Colorado River gets relief from snow. But long-term water crisis remains
1 year, 8 months ago

Drought-ravaged Colorado River gets relief from snow. But long-term water crisis remains

LA Times  

View of the Colorado River continuing past Hoover Dam, on the border between Nevada and Arizona, on April 3. “It’s a great snowpack,” said Bill Hasencamp, manager of Colorado River resources for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. “This snowpack means we don’t need nearly the level of cuts as we thought we might have just four months ago,” …

California ends some water limits after storms ease drought
1 year, 9 months ago

California ends some water limits after storms ease drought

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Gavin Newsom ended some of the state's water restrictions …

Newsom rolls back California drought restrictions after remarkably wet winter
1 year, 9 months ago

Newsom rolls back California drought restrictions after remarkably wet winter

LA Times  

A Rancho Cucamonga housing tract was among those where outdoor watering was restricted to one day a week during last year’s drought. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced that he will roll back some of the state’s most severe drought restrictions and dramatically increase water supplies for agencies serving 27 million people. “We’re modifying it as opposed to eliminating it because …

Scientists: Largest US reservoirs moving in right direction
1 year, 9 months ago

Scientists: Largest US reservoirs moving in right direction

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “We’re definitely going in the right direction, but we …

How the Colorado River crisis affects hydropower.
1 year, 10 months ago

How the Colorado River crisis affects hydropower.

Slate  

The Colorado River, which allows the desert to sustain itself and powers millions of American homes, is currently engaged in the fight of its life. The Hoover Dam at Lake Mead and the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell provide power for approximately 4 million Americans in the seven basin states. Despite these concerns, hydropower makes up almost one-third of …

Colorado River crisis is so bad, lakes Mead and Powell are unlikely to refill in our lifetimes
1 year, 10 months ago

Colorado River crisis is so bad, lakes Mead and Powell are unlikely to refill in our lifetimes

LA Times  

The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is the deepest it’s been in decades, but those storms that were a boon for Northern California won’t make much of a dent in the long-term water shortage for the Colorado River Basin — an essential source of supplies for Southern California. “To think that these things would ever refill requires some kind of …

At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
1 year, 10 months ago

At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway

LA Times  

The Colorado River cuts through Marle Canyon in the Navajo Nation en route to the Grand Canyon. But as California argues most strongly for strict adherence to this system of water apportionment, the other states say it makes little sense when the river’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, continues to decline toward “dead pool” level, which would effectively cut off the …

California is alone in battle over Colorado River water cuts
1 year, 10 months ago

California is alone in battle over Colorado River water cuts

LA Times  

After a key deadline passed this week without an agreement on how to address the Colorado River’s crisis, California is now sharply at odds with six other states over how to take less water from the shrinking river. “California is trying to play its best card, which is, ‘The law is on our side.’ And the other six states are …

California is lone holdout in Colorado River cuts proposal
1 year, 10 months ago

California is lone holdout in Colorado River cuts proposal

Associated Press  

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Six Western states that rely on water from the Colorado River have agreed on a model to dramatically cut water use in the basin, months after the federal government called for action and an initial deadline passed. Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming sent a letter Monday to Reclamation, which operates the major dams in …

US states propose Colorado River cuts, California lone holdout
1 year, 10 months ago

US states propose Colorado River cuts, California lone holdout

Al Jazeera  

Authorities in US West are in talks to cut water use as Colorado River faces historically low levels amid drought. Six states in the western United States that rely on water from the Colorado River have agreed on a model to dramatically cut water use in the basin, months after the federal government called for action and an initial deadline …

The river’s end: Amid Colorado water cuts, Mexico seeks to restore its lost oasis
1 year, 10 months ago

The river’s end: Amid Colorado water cuts, Mexico seeks to restore its lost oasis

LA Times  

When the Colorado River reaches the U.S.-Mexico border, it pushes up against Morelos Dam. VIDEO | 8:29 Colorado riverkeeper says day of reckoning is here: ‘This river can’t sustain 40 million people’ For decades, so much water has been diverted to supply farms and cities that the Colorado River has seldom met the sea and much of its delta in …

States miss deadline to address Colorado River water crisis; pressure builds on California
1 year, 10 months ago

States miss deadline to address Colorado River water crisis; pressure builds on California

LA Times  

Water levels in Lake Powell have been dropping during the past 23 years of drought in the Colorado River Basin. In announcing the proposal Monday, Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, called it a key step in the “ongoing dialogue” among the seven states “as we continue to seek a collaborative solution to stabilize the Colorado …

AP Exclusive: Emails reveal tensions in Colorado River talks
1 year, 10 months ago

AP Exclusive: Emails reveal tensions in Colorado River talks

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Competing priorities, outsized demands and the federal government’s retreat from a threatened deadline stymied a deal last summer on how to drastically reduce water use from the parched Colorado River, emails obtained by The Associated Press show. As the deadline approached without meaningful progress, one water manager warned: “We’re all headed to a very dark place.” “The …

California winter storms boost water allocations for cities
1 year, 10 months ago

California winter storms boost water allocations for cities

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Weeks of historic rainfall in California won’t be enough to end a severe drought, but it will provide public water agencies serving 27 million people with much more water than the suppliers had been told to expect a month ago, state officials announced Thursday. “We’re not out of drought in California, but this certainly makes a significant …

California to get major boost in water supplies after January storms
1 year, 10 months ago

California to get major boost in water supplies after January storms

LA Times  

California water agencies that serve 27 million people will see an increased allocation of supplies from the state after a series of winter storms boosted reservoirs and snowpack, officials announced Thursday. “But make no mistake, while the recent storms will help alleviate the acute emergency in areas dependent on supplies from the State Water Project, Southern California’s water challenges are …

Why heavy winter rain and snow won't be enough to pull the West out of a megadrought
1 year, 11 months ago

Why heavy winter rain and snow won't be enough to pull the West out of a megadrought

NPR  

Why heavy winter rain and snow won't be enough to pull the West out of a megadrought Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Hager/KUNC Alex Hager/KUNC This winter, the West has been slammed by wet weather. Snow piled high in the Rockies is crucial for the Colorado River — a water lifeline for people from Wyoming to Mexico in an …

Colorado River in Crisis: A Times series on the Southwest’s shrinking water lifeline
54 years, 11 months ago

Colorado River in Crisis: A Times series on the Southwest’s shrinking water lifeline

LA Times  

The Colorado River can no longer withstand the thirst of the arid West. Water drawn from the river flows to nearly 40 million people in cities from Denver to Los Angeles and irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland. Colorado River in Crisis is a series of stories, videos and podcasts in which Los Angeles Times journalists travel throughout …

The Times podcast: Colorado River in Crisis, Part 1: A Dying River
1 year, 11 months ago

The Times podcast: Colorado River in Crisis, Part 1: A Dying River

LA Times  

A formerly sunken boat stands upright along the shoreline of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Interior Department announced last fall that it will consider revising a set of guidelines for operating two major dams on the Colorado River in the first sign of what could lead to federal action to protect the shrinking reservoirs behind them. …

California snowpack is far above average amid January storms, but a lot more is needed
1 year, 11 months ago

California snowpack is far above average amid January storms, but a lot more is needed

LA Times  

A series of atmospheric river storms has brought California heavy rains and above-average snowpack across the Sierra Nevada, but experts say the state still needs many more storms to begin to emerge from drought. “The significant Sierra snowpack is good news, but unfortunately these same storms are bringing flooding to parts of California,” said Karla Nemeth, director of the state …

Federal officials say urgent action needed to protect shrinking Colorado River reservoirs
2 years ago

Federal officials say urgent action needed to protect shrinking Colorado River reservoirs

LA Times  

A boat sits in a cove on Lake Powell, in Utah, in May. Speaking at the conference Friday, Touton said: “I can feel the anxiety, the uncertainty in this room, and in the basin, as we look at the river and the hydrology that we face.” Touton noted that an agreement a century ago, the 1922 Colorado River Compact, divided …

More questions than answers at Colorado River water meetings
2 years ago

More questions than answers at Colorado River water meetings

Associated Press  

LAS VEGAS — Key questions resurfaced Thursday at a conference of Colorado River water administrators and users from seven U.S. states, Native American tribes and Mexico who are served by the shrinking river stricken by drought and climate change. I just have questions right now,” Ted Cooke, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, said during a Colorado River Water …

Growing fears of ‘dead pool’ on Colorado River as drought threatens Hoover Dam water
2 years ago

Growing fears of ‘dead pool’ on Colorado River as drought threatens Hoover Dam water

LA Times  

The Colorado River’s largest reservoirs stand nearly three-quarters empty, and federal officials now say there is a real danger the reservoirs could drop so low that water would no longer flow past Hoover Dam in two years. Outlining their latest projections for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the nation’s two largest reservoirs, federal water managers said there is a risk …

Drought emergency declared for all Southern California
2 years ago

Drought emergency declared for all Southern California

LA Times  

As California faces the prospect of a fourth consecutive dry year, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have declared a regional drought emergency and called on water agencies to immediately reduce their use of all imported supplies. If we don’t have an extremely wet winter, we will need to elevate to our highest level — a water …

Feds to Colorado River states: reduce water usage, or we will do it for you
2 years, 1 month ago

Feds to Colorado River states: reduce water usage, or we will do it for you

Salon  

This story is part of the Grist series Parched, an in-depth look at how climate change-fueled drought is reshaping communities, economies, and ecosystems. In theory, the federal government can unilaterally cut water deliveries from the Colorado River's two main reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which release more than 2 trillion gallons of water to farms and cities across the …

Increasing pressures on Colorado River water in New Mexico
2 years, 3 months ago

Increasing pressures on Colorado River water in New Mexico

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Colorado River tributaries in New Mexico bring water to the alfalfa fields in the Four Corners and the forested hills of the Gila wilderness in the southwestern part of the state. State Engineer Mike Hamman, New Mexico’s top water manager, said the state “really feels the shortages” because it doesn’t have the big reservoirs of other states …

In Arizona, worry about access to Colorado River water
2 years, 3 months ago

In Arizona, worry about access to Colorado River water

Associated Press  

TUCSON, Ariz. — Robbie Woodhouse’s grandfather began nearly a century of family farming along the Gila River near Yuma in the middle 1920s when he dug up a bunch of mesquite stumps on his land to make way for his barley, wheat, Bermuda seed, cotton and melon fields. Due to a logjam in interstate negotiations for massive cuts in Colorado …

Stressed Colorado River keeps California desert farms alive
2 years, 3 months ago

Stressed Colorado River keeps California desert farms alive

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. If the river were to become unusable, Southern California …

In Mexico’s dry north, Colorado River adds to uncertainty
2 years, 3 months ago

In Mexico’s dry north, Colorado River adds to uncertainty

Associated Press  

MEXICALI — When Gilbert Quintana, a farmer in the Mexicali Valley, learned he would soon lose 15% of his water supply, he did what he’s done before in a pinch: buy water from other growers in northern Mexico. Adan Vallejo blocks water with mud as he irrigates a field of cotton with water from the Colorado River, Sunday, Aug. 14, …

Crisis looms without big cuts to over-tapped Colorado River
2 years, 4 months ago

Crisis looms without big cuts to over-tapped Colorado River

Associated Press  

SALT LAKE CITY — Hydroelectric turbines may stop turning. People have “been hoping to stave off this day,” said Felicia Marcus, a former top water official in California, which holds the largest right to the river’s water. Entsminger and his counterparts in Arizona, Utah and California, as well as local officials in and around Phoenix, also repeated what has become …

Drought in the US: Water Supply Cut for States Colorado, Arizona; Mexico’s Quota Reduced
2 years, 4 months ago

Drought in the US: Water Supply Cut for States Colorado, Arizona; Mexico’s Quota Reduced

News 18  

Water supplies to some US states and Mexico will be cut to avoid “catastrophic collapse” of the Colorado River, Washington officials said Tuesday, as a historic drought bites. More than two decades of well below average rainfall have left the river — the lifeblood of the western United States — at critical levels, as human-caused climate change worsens the natural …

Western states hit with more cuts to Colorado River water
2 years, 4 months ago

Western states hit with more cuts to Colorado River water

Associated Press  

SALT LAKE CITY — For the second year in a row, Arizona and Nevada will face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as the West endures more drought, federal officials announced Tuesday. “They have called the bureau’s bluff time and again,” Kyle Roerink, the executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, said …

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