Page 18 - River Compact News Today

Between the double-decade Millennium Drought and century-old deals overdrafting Colorado River water, the west’s water reserves are drawing dangerously low.

The reservoir provides recreation like boating and fishing, powers thousands of homes through hydroelectricity and stores water for Lake Powell and other downstream users. The reservoir is critically low, and it’s possible water levels may be lowered even further in 2022.

Years ago, scientists said climate change would bring a Colorado River crisis. Their warnings, which largely went unheeded, are now playing out.

Weekly Arkansas River data courtesy of the Arkansas River Water Collaborative.

Indigenous people must be included in river compact

Arkansas River report for the week ending June 27, 2022.

The federal government is telling seven states to make plans for drastically cutting water use along the Colorado River within two months.

The annual Eagle River Valley State of the River community meeting Wednesday highlighted recent data and initiatives around water supply and water quality in the county and the Western Slope at large.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will release an extra 500,000 acre feet of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to help maintain hydroelectric

In Monument Valley, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez signed the Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement Act. Sponsored by Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, it recognizes 81,500 acre-feet of water from the Colorado River, and directs the federal government to spend $220 million for water infrastructure.