a line, or reservoirs have been emptied, have the water consumers show the amount of water they drew by raising their cups or calling out the amount. But here there was nothing to see: just an empty field of ankle-high weeds and crimson splotches of peat. Scientists attribute extended drought to warmer and drier weather in the West to long-term, human-caused climate change. Although it originates just miles from the headwaters of the Colorado River, the Arkansas River flows east instead of west, meandering nearly 1,500 miles across the Great Plains before joining the Mississippi River. Touton said the states need to conserve an additional 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water next year to protect levels at Lake Powell in Arizona and Utah and Lake Mead in Nevada and Arizona. That would be: Were basically going to put all the cuts on the major share of the economy. A basinwide conservation plan had not materialized by the mid-August deadline. (Anthony Jackson/The Albuquerque Journal via AP), Trump PAC Complaint Against DeSantis Rejected in Florida, North Carolina AG Urges Public Safety, Law Enforcement Bills, 7 Bodies Found During Search for Missing Oklahoma Teens. In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River Beef cattle are the top agricultural product of Imperial County. Its quite possible that there just wont be as much San Juan-Chama water available in the future because of drought and climate change.. Agriculture all over the West required the development of irrigation infrastructure, such as dams and ditches, Mr. Libecap said. A report in the journal Nature last year found 2000-2021 to be the driest 22-year period for southwestern North America in at least 1,200 years. The Salton Sea still exists, although it's in deep trouble. From April through September, tours commence at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with . They would have bought it, turned it, flipped it, and theyd be gone.. Sept. 14, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico. An engineering marvel from the heyday of federal water construction, the project is a vast network or reservoirs filled by a tunnel that pipes water from the Colorado River 13 miles under the Continental Divide. In addition, those states are getting a hand from scientists at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. Click here to see how reuse and recycling could fit in to the West's strategy to save the Colorado River. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. Many see the compact as a safeguard isolating the river from the market. hide caption. According to water-policy professionals I spoke to, investors are already lobbying for it. ", The All-American Canal carries water from the Imperial Dam, on the Colorado River near Yuma, Ariz., to a series of smaller distribution canals in the Imperial Valley. WAM and other investors could theoretically create their own reservoir accounts and let the water sit until its value was maximized. Right now, we have legal and political mechanisms in place to prevent that from happening., He added, though, that the pressure of the drought could shift the terrain. The Evergreen State takes the top spot again in the U.S. News Best States ranking on the strength of its tech sector and other industries. Farmers also could reduce the amount of land planted in crops, especially alfalfa and grasses, which get baled into hay to feed cattle or horses. Many experts see its decision to sit out the agreement as fuelling the chances that the water fight will end up in the nation's highest courts. But those plans, say members of Colorado's outdoor recreation, real estate, and tourism industries, jeopardize a $9 billion dollar economy that hinges on healthy rivers - and supports more . Valued at $2 billion after 14 years in existence, Australias markets primarily facilitate trades in agricultural areas. Alex Cardenas, the president of the board of directors of the Imperial Irrigation District, noted that the water rights among the farmers in his area of California near the border with Mexico predate the formation of the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the river system. Running southwest from the Rocky Mountains to Mexicos Gulf of California, the river runs through seven states in the American West. In a general, larger picture, its a national park, and the way the river was before the dam came in has changed a lot, Tusso said. 2002, 2018 and 2021 are the most intense dry periods on record for the basin. Sandbar at river mile 45 before (LEFT) & after (RIGHT), the 2012 high-flow. Florida Municipal Power Agency. In 2006, Pueblo West agreed to irrigate and revive the land. The way this priority system works, residents of Phoenix would lose water before vegetable farmers in Yuma. Transferring water from agricultural communities to cities, though often contentious, is not a new practice. Thats exactly what we were hoping that our use of surface water would allow the aquifer to do, Morris said. hide caption. But the largest water user, California, did not join them an impasse that suggests the wrangling over how to conserve the dwindling water supply that serves 40 million people will continue in coming months. Californias snowpack, aided by atmospheric rivers, could help drought. And with the worst drought in 1,500 years parching the region, water anxiety is at an all-time high. In Colorado, when we look up at the rocky mountains, its difficult to imagine how much those snowy white peaks mean to the rest of the world. A letter signed by the six states showed they all recognised the need for a change in operating procedures for the Colorado River and deliveries from it, she added. But officials in these farming districts with long-standing water rights do not intend to give them up without a fight or without compensation that meets their needs. LCRA provides public power, manages the lower Colorado River, builds and operates transmission lines, owns public parks, and offers community services. Understanding California's relationship with Colorado River Roughly 180,000 people, most of them Mexican-American, live here in towns that include El Centro, Calexico, and Brawley. Just kind of a nightmare, Mr. It's now more salty than the ocean, heavily contaminated with agricultural runoff, and shrinking. This area gets less attention than California's Central Valley, the nation's leading producer of produce and nuts, which draws its water from rain and snow in the Sierra Mountains, or pumps it from shrinking underground aquifers. At the edges of Lake Mead, the Nation's largest reservoir, a "bathtub ring" of mineral deposits approximately 100 ft. high shows the drop in water level after years of drought along the Colorado River. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) 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. For the second time in six months, states that depend on the Colorado River to sustain their farms and cities have failed to reach an agreement on restricting water usage, setting up the prospect of the federal government making unilateral cuts this year. Mr. Eklund secured an account in Lake Powell. When started, they were hailed as a fast, flexible way of redistributing water on the driest inhabited continent, with little regulation attached. Farmers, however, would almost certainly challenge such an order in court. An acre-foot (1,233 cubic meters) of water is generally considered enough to supply two urban households per year. U.S. states struggle to share dwindling waters of Colorado River As of Wednesday morning, the surge of water released from the Glen Canyon Dam has reached Lake Mead, KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. These farms use more Colorado River water than 2 states combined - NPR U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton this year tasked Colorado River states with creating an ambitious conservation plan. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. But the states existing water conservation programs could be under increased scrutiny. Nor is it official policy yet. Lake Powell, last full in June 1980, is at 25%. Plus, A Surprising Number Of Food And Beverage Classes In Boulder County. Demand management, as the policy is known, is an attempt to solve the so-called wrong places problem and free up water from agriculture and reroute it to urban uses and conservation. U.S. cities that receive river water include Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. Camille Touton, bureau commissioner, tempered a warning during the water webinars about federal intervention she called it moving forward on the initiation of administrative actions with a vow to find a collective solution to the challenges that we face today.. The California proposal makes a constructive effort to uphold the Law of the River while making substantial efforts to protect the Colorado River system with voluntary reductions far beyond Californias legal obligations, JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, wrote in the introduction to the plan. The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922, just 10 years after New Mexico became a state. Where water investors have historically gotten involved in markets is through agriculture, with mixed results. It lies below sea level, allowing water from the Colorado River to flow there by gravity alone. Obviously, its not going swimmingly, said Jeffrey Kightlinger, the former general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a water provider that is a major player in the talks. The tribal reservation in western Arizona includes more than 110 miles (177 kilometers) of Colorado River shoreline. "On the one hand, you have the most disadvantaged community, but in the same community you have some of the richest farmers!" Traders could exploit volatility, whether due to drought, failing infrastructure or government restrictions. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. 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. What are the top crops grown in Colorado? In theory, water saved by demand management could flow to the account, often called a pool within the pool, and be drawn upon if the current drought continues to realize worst-case scenarios. Interior Department has said it will engage with tribes in the basin as parties hammer out some management details of the compact that are set to expire after 2026. In 2015, California got just 5 percent of its average annual snowpack, the lowest in 500 years. It has offered its own plan to conserve water. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. Its not necessarily a new concept in parts of Southern California, farmers have been paid for more than a decade to fallow land. David Morris, the water utility spokesman for the city and county, said the Colorado River water has allowed the region to wean itself off of unsustainable groundwater pumping. In 2003, under pressure from the federal government, IID agreed to transfer about 10 percent of its total allotment of water each year to San Diego and another neighboring water district. Much of the money goes to pay for projects that conserve water. Half of those acres lie within the Imperial Irrigation District. Access to it can make or break both cities and rural communities. Most would like to see the price of water, long set in quiet by utilities and governments, rise precipitously. The term consultation gets thrown around in the basin a whole lot, Vigil said. As reservoir levels drop, the document suggests California, which has rights to 4.4 million acre-feet of water, would need to cut more than 1 million acre-feet. Gary Libecap, a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who specializes in water issues, believes that movement of water necessarily generates a public good, whatever form it takes. If power production ceases at Glen Canyon Dam, rural electric cooperatives, cities and tribal utilities would be forced to seek more expensive options. The Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California. Thats not what water is meant to be.. Arizona, California, and Nevada combined to consume just over 6.5 million acre-feet last year, according to an annual audit from the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that oversees the lower basin. Its pretty tough right now.. The reality is we have an overallocated river, said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest water supplier in the country. The Biden administration helped pave the way for that offer by pledging $250 million for environmental projects to address the dust-ravaged shorelines around the Salton Sea, Californias largest lake, thats fed by agricultural runoff from the Imperial Valley. Negotiators have had a bit of help from nature to start the year. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. As of Wednesday morning, the surge of water released from the Glen Canyon Dam has reached Lake Mead, KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. Who are the top 5 consumers of the water of the Colorado River? Bureau officials use the image of pouring tea from one cup to another to describe how water from Rocky Mountain snowmelt is captured in Lake Powell, then released downriver through the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead. The ultimate goal of this high-flow experiment is to move sand and sediment along the Colorado River. Amid Dire Colorado River Outlook, States Plan to Tap Their Lake Mead If nothing changes, within a few years, Lake Mead would drop to a level called "dead pool" and water would stop flowing through Hoover Dam. So youre going to see a very important negotiation.. The water tower in El Centro, the county seat of Imperial County, notes a geographic fact that shapes this area's destiny. According to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Lake Mead will rise from 1,047 feet on Monday to 1,048 feet by Sunday. John Hernandez, a Mexican-American activist, says that there's also a question of fairness if most of the money that the irrigation district gets for using less water potentially hundreds of millions of dollars each year gets passed out to just a few hundred farms. But Lpez said the additional release could have jeopardized regional water supplies. The Evergreen State takes the top spot again in the U.S. News Best States ranking on the strength of its tech sector and other industries. The most valuable of these rights were grandfathered in decades before the population explosion in desert cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas, and privilege water access to small, often family-owned farms in stressed communities. The snowpack in the Rocky Mountains, the main source of runoff that feeds the Colorado River system, is also higher than normal but not by as much as in California. The All-American Canal carries water from the Imperial Dam, on the Colorado River near Yuma, Ariz., to a series of smaller distribution canals in the Imperial Valley. But the entire region must work together, Lpez said, to avoid more mandatory cuts. His great-grandfather came to the valley from Sweden in the 1920s. There is a myth about water in the Western United States, which is that there is not enough of it. Researchers at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, N.M., works with . We recognize that over the past twenty-plus years there is simply far less water flowing into the Colorado River system than the amount that leaves it, and that we have effectively run out of storage to deplete, the states wrote. The negotiating states will be focused on restoring the flow of the Colorado River, which has been so diminished by use that from 1998 to 2014 it did not even reach its natural terminus in the Gulf of California. It should free him. 2. Surge of Colorado River water reaches Lake Mead - ktla.com