8 months, 4 weeks ago

Plumbing problem at Glen Canyon Dam brings new threat to Colorado River system

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. Read our privacy policy Plumbing problems at the dam holding back the second-largest reservoir in the U.S. are spurring concerns about future water delivery issues to Southwestern states supplied by the Colorado River. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the major dams in the Colorado River system, is evaluating issues related to Glen Canyon Dam when Lake Powell reaches low levels. JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said the dam’s design leaves open the possibility that huge amounts of water could be stranded in Lake Powell under low elevations. Environmental groups for years have cautioned that water levels at Lake Powell could reach a point where Glen Canyon dam can no longer be used for hydropower or release water downstream.

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History of this topic

1 month ago

Letters to the Editor: It’s time to build a water pipeline to supply the Colorado River

LA Times

Tourists visit the Hoover Dam, which impounds the Colorado River to create Lake Mead, in Nevada in April 2023. Knowing the dire sense of urgency, we should at least consider — in lieu of toilet to tap, paying farmers to fallow their fields, sucking more groundwater out of sinking land and starting more water wars — a 1,000-mile water pipeline …

1 month, 3 weeks ago

Feds outline ‘necessary steps’ for Colorado River agreement by 2026 but no recommendation yet

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Federal water officials made public on Wednesday what they called “necessary steps” for seven states and multiple tribes that use Colorado River water and hydropower to meet an August 2026 deadline for deciding how to manage the waterway in the future. It would add delivery and storage for Powell and Mead, encourage conservation and agreements for water …

1 month, 3 weeks ago

Biden administration outlines options for addressing Colorado River water shortages

LA Times

The Biden administration has announced a range of options for new rules to address chronic water shortages and low reservoir levels on the Colorado River, a vital water source for seven Western states that has dwindled during more than two decades of drought compounded by climate change. The Bureau of Reclamation, which manages dams on the river, said the four …

5 months 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 …

6 months ago

California farmers set to cut use of Colorado River water, temporarily leaving fields dry

LA Times

Welcome to Boiling Point. The Imperial Irrigation District delivers the single largest share of the Colorado River’s water to farmlands that produce hay for cattle as well as many of the country’s vegetables. Tina Shields, the district’s water manager, called it a “mini-fallowing program.” “The goal is to strengthen the Colorado River and ensure long-term viability and reliability,” Shields said. …

7 months, 3 weeks ago

Native American tribes give unanimous approval to proposal securing Colorado River water

Associated Press

The Navajo Nation Council has signed off on a proposed settlement that would ensure water rights for its tribe and two others in the drought-stricken Southwest — a deal that could become the most expensive enacted by Congress. Congress has enacted nearly three dozen tribal water rights settlements across the U.S. over the last four decades and federal negotiation teams …

8 months ago

Proposed settlement is first step in securing Colorado River water for 3 Native American tribes

Associated Press

LEUPP, Ariz. — A proposed water rights settlement for three Native American tribes that carries a price tag larger than any such agreement enacted by Congress has taken a major step forward with its introduction to the Navajo Nation Council. Nearly a third of homes in the Navajo Nation — spanning 27,000 square miles of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah …

8 months, 4 weeks ago

Plumbing problem at Glen Canyon Dam brings new threat to Colorado River system

Associated Press

ATLANTA — Plumbing problems at the dam holding back the second-largest reservoir in the U.S. are spurring concerns about future water delivery issues to Southwestern states supplied by the Colorado River. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the major dams in the Colorado River system, is evaluating issues related to Glen Canyon Dam when Lake Powell reaches low levels. …

9 months ago

Damage found inside Glen Canyon Dam increases water risks on the Colorado River

LA Times

Federal officials have discovered damage inside Glen Canyon Dam that could force limits on how much Colorado River water is released at low reservoir levels, raising risks the Southwest could face shortages that were previously unforeseen. “Because of the dam’s design, there are real structural risks under low elevations that could potentially leave stranded as much water in Lake Powell …

10 months, 1 week ago

As a deadline approaches, Colorado River states are still far apart on water sharing

NPR

As a deadline approaches, Colorado River states are still far apart on water sharing Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Hager/KUNC Alex Hager/KUNC Ahead of a deadline next week, the seven states that share the Colorado River have revealed competing plans for how the river should be managed in the future. Reservoirs drying up Mitchell and her Upper Basin colleagues …

10 months, 1 week 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 …

10 months, 1 week 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 …

10 months, 2 weeks ago

Climate change, cost and competition for water drive settlement over tribal rights to Colorado River

Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A Native American tribe with one of the largest outstanding claims to water in the Colorado River basin is closing in on a settlement with more than a dozen parties, putting it on a path to piping water to tens of thousands of tribal members in Arizona who still live without it. Negotiating terms outlined late Wednesday …

1 year, 2 months 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 …

1 year, 4 months ago

As Colorado River shrinks, California farmers urge ‘one-dam solution’

LA Times

John Weisheit, co-founder of the group Living Rivers, says the Colorado River should be restored to a more natural state by decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam. For years, environmentalists have argued that the Colorado River should be allowed to flow freely across the Utah-Arizona border, saying that letting water pass around Glen Canyon Dam — and draining the giant Lake Powell …

1 year, 5 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 …

1 year, 5 months ago

Colorado River losing vast amounts of water due to warming climate, study finds

LA Times

Children play on the shore of Lake Mead, near Las Vegas. “We’re going to continue to see reductions in runoff due to rising temperatures.” Average temperatures in the Colorado River Basin have already risen about 2.7 degrees, according to the study, which was published in the journal Water Resources Research. He called it “a wake-up call to the climate change …

1 year, 7 months ago

Tribes seek greater involvement in talks on Colorado River water crisis

LA Times

The Colorado River cuts through Lees Ferry on the border of the Navajo Nation en route to the Grand Canyon. Lewis raised the concern at a conference in Boulder, Colo., this month, saying that as work begins on a post-2026 plan, “it’s no longer acceptable for the U.S. to meet with seven basin states separately, and then come to basin …

1 year, 7 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 …

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 …

1 year, 7 months ago

Editorial: Colorado River water deal gives California another reprieve. For now

LA Times

A “bathtub ring” displays the drop in water levels on Lake Mead, which provides much of Southern California’s water and is fed by a diminishing Colorado River. The real reckoning comes when operating agreements expire for Lake Mead, which feeds the Colorado’s water to Southern California and the two other lower-basin states, and Lake Powell, which regulates the flow into …

1 year, 7 months ago

California emerges as big winner in Colorado River water deal

LA Times

Monday’s historic Colorado River agreement represents a big win for California, which only months ago was embroiled in a bitter feud with Arizona, Nevada and four other Western states over how to dramatically reduce their use of water supplies in the shrinking river. “It’s a win for California, but it’s a win for the entire basin that, once again, after …

1 year, 7 months ago

Breakthrough Colorado River deal reached, outlining big water cuts for three years

LA Times

A “bathtub ring” stands far above the waterline around Lake Powell on April 15. The consensus reached among the states will “protect the Colorado River system for the duration of the current guidelines,” said JB Hamby, chair of California’s Colorado River Board. Gavin Newsom said that California has “stepped up to make significant cuts to water usage,” and that the …

1 year, 8 months ago

Five key things to know about the Colorado River

Al Jazeera

One of the largest rivers in the US is in crisis. It provides water to 40 million people Approximately 40 million people in Mexico and across seven US states rely on the Colorado River and its tributaries for their drinking water. The Imperial Irrigation District, serving a rich agricultural area in southern California, is the single-largest Colorado River water user …

1 year, 9 months ago

EXPLAINER: What might Colorado River cuts mean for states?

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. Tuesday's analysis from the Interior …

1 year, 9 months ago

US floats options to reduce water pulled from Colorado River

Associated Press

BOULDER CITY, Nev. — The Biden administration released an environmental analysis Tuesday that outlined two ways that seven Western states and tribes reliant on the overtapped Colorado River could cut their use, but declined to publicly take a side on the best option. But Beaudreau said states, Native American tribes and other water users recognized that it would be in …

1 year, 9 months ago

In Colorado River talks, still no agreement about water cuts

The Independent

1 year, 9 months ago

Tribe, US officials reach deal to save Colorado River water

Associated Press

PHOENIX — A Native American tribe in Arizona reached a deal Thursday with the U.S. government not to use some of its Colorado River water rights in return for $150 million and funding for a pipeline project. Officials termed it “compensated conservation.” It’s part of a broader effort to get states that rely on the Colorado River to substantially lessen …

1 year, 9 months ago

Tribe, US officials reach deal to save Colorado River water

The Independent

1 year, 10 months ago

As the Colorado River shrinks, federal officials consider overhauling Glen Canyon Dam

LA Times

The Colorado River’s decline threatens hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam. With the reservoir now just 32 feet away from “minimum power pool” — the point at which Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate power for six states — federal officials are studying the possibility of overhauling the dam so that it can continue to generate electricity and release water …

1 year, 11 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 …

1 year, 11 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 …

1 year, 11 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 …

1 year, 11 months ago

California floated cutting major Southwest cities off Colorado River water before touching its agriculture supply, sources say

CNN

CNN — In a closed-door negotiation last week over the fate of the Colorado River, representatives from California’s powerful water districts proposed modeling what the basin’s future would look like if some of the West’s biggest cities – including Phoenix and Las Vegas – were cut off from the river’s water supply, three people familiar with the talks told CNN. …

1 year, 11 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 …

1 year, 11 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 …

1 year, 11 months ago

A showdown over Colorado River water is setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle

CNN

CNN — Months of bitter negotiations between seven states that rely on the Colorado River’s vanishing water have collapsed along a clear fault line over the past week: California versus everyone else. On Monday, six states – including lower basin states of Arizona and Nevada – released a letter and a proposed model for how much Colorado River water they …

1 year, 11 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 …

1 year, 11 months ago

A river guide’s view of Lake Powell’s decline and the depths of the Colorado River crisis

LA Times

Muddy water whizzed past as John Weisheit steered a motorboat upstream in the Colorado River. “I don’t know if I’m willing to flip a boat for this.” Weisheit said he thought he knew this part of the Colorado River, like so many other stretches where he has guided expeditions over the last four decades. “We need to respect the river …

2 years 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. …

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, 1 month 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 …

2 years, 1 month ago

Colorado River water users convening amid crisis concerns

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus this week for state and federal water administrators, tribal officials, farmers, academics and business representatives meeting about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in June told the seven states that are part of the Colorado River Basin — Arizona, California, Colorado, …

2 years, 2 months 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 …

2 years, 4 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 …

2 years, 4 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 …

2 years, 4 months ago

California water agencies brace for Colorado River cuts

LA Times

California water districts are under growing pressure to shoulder substantial water cutbacks as the federal government pushes for urgent solutions to prevent the Colorado River’s badly depleted reservoirs from reaching dangerously low levels. They include improving water efficiency in agriculture, creating a regional program to help people with the costs of removing grass, and redefining “beneficial use” to eliminate “wasteful …

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 …

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3 weeks, 5 days ago

Plumbing problem at Glen Canyon Dam brings new threat to Colorado River system

History of this topic

Letters to the Editor: It’s time to build a water pipeline to supply the Colorado River

Feds outline ‘necessary steps’ for Colorado River agreement by 2026 but no recommendation yet

Biden administration outlines options for addressing Colorado River water shortages

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

California farmers set to cut use of Colorado River water, temporarily leaving fields dry

Native American tribes give unanimous approval to proposal securing Colorado River water

Proposed settlement is first step in securing Colorado River water for 3 Native American tribes

Plumbing problem at Glen Canyon Dam brings new threat to Colorado River system

Damage found inside Glen Canyon Dam increases water risks on the Colorado River

As a deadline approaches, Colorado River states are still far apart on water sharing

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

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

Climate change, cost and competition for water drive settlement over tribal rights to Colorado River

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

As Colorado River shrinks, California farmers urge ‘one-dam solution’

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

Colorado River losing vast amounts of water due to warming climate, study finds

Tribes seek greater involvement in talks on Colorado River water crisis

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

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

Editorial: Colorado River water deal gives California another reprieve. For now

California emerges as big winner in Colorado River water deal

Breakthrough Colorado River deal reached, outlining big water cuts for three years

Five key things to know about the Colorado River

EXPLAINER: What might Colorado River cuts mean for states?

US floats options to reduce water pulled from Colorado River

In Colorado River talks, still no agreement about water cuts

Tribe, US officials reach deal to save Colorado River water

Tribe, US officials reach deal to save Colorado River water

As the Colorado River shrinks, federal officials consider overhauling Glen Canyon Dam

How the Colorado River crisis affects hydropower.

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

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

California floated cutting major Southwest cities off Colorado River water before touching its agriculture supply, sources say

US states propose Colorado River cuts, California lone holdout

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

A showdown over Colorado River water is setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle

AP Exclusive: Emails reveal tensions in Colorado River talks

A river guide’s view of Lake Powell’s decline and the depths of the Colorado River crisis

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

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

More questions than answers at Colorado River water meetings

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

Colorado River water users convening amid crisis concerns

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

Increasing pressures on Colorado River water in New Mexico

In Arizona, worry about access to Colorado River water

California water agencies brace for Colorado River cuts

Crisis looms without big cuts to over-tapped Colorado River

Discover Related