"Someday" Is Here: Colorado River Treaty Divides 15 Million AF Among Basin States; Last Year's Flow Was 8.5 Million AF
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For management purposes, the Colorado River Basin is split into two parts. Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico make up the Upper Basin, and Arizona, California and Nevada make up the Lower Basin. When the river’s water was divvied up between the states in what’s known as the Colorado River Compact in 1922, Reclamation estimated there was around 18 million acre feet (MAF) of water in the river (one acre foot is roughly 326,000 gallons), and the basins were allowed to take 7.5 MAF each. But in the 21st century, flows have averaged around 12.5 MAF a year, with studies predicting that will dwindle further and the most recent water year seeing just 8.5 MAF. That adds up to allocations of a third more water than the river has carried on average this century.
The major sticking point between the negotiators from the two basins is who will take the necessary cuts. The Lower Basin, which has historically used the greatest amount of the river’s water, with the nation’s two largest reservoirs constructed by Reclamation to help them manage it, has argued all states should work together to cut back usage. But the Upper Basin states, which have never used their full share of the river and have little infrastructure to divert and store water, have argued that the lower basin must take most of the cuts. They have proposed 30 projects that would divert over 1 MAF from the river, the report finds, to hang on to as much of the Upper Basin’s previous allocation as possible. But those projects must be prohibited, the report says in its first recommendation.
“Those are fighting words or litigating words,” said Gary Wockner, founder of Save the Colorado and Save the World’s Rivers, which has fought proposed dams in the basin. “I mean, for crying out loud, you’re basically threatening the water supply for 30 million people and all the businesses and agriculture by saying you’re refusing to sign something to send water downstream. We think the Upper Basin needs to take cuts.”
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Operations must change at Glen Canyon Dam, too, the report argues. The dam stores water at Lake Powell and provides electricity to 5 million people. But overuse and drought has left the reservoir only about a quarter full. If the water level continues to drop, it will fall below “minimum power pool” and the dam will lose the ability to generate hydropower. Dam managers previously believed that, even after the level dropped too low to spin the hydroelectric turbines, water could still be sent downstream using an outlet located lower in the dam. But studies from Reclamation have found that those pipes can not sustain long-term use without damaging the dam.
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06102025/colorado-river-water-supply-report/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Oh, bullpoop! There is plenty of water available.
Trump released many billions of gallons to fight fires.
In places where the water could not reach the fire areas.
??? Oh, Yeah! Lots of it.
