Historic Water Cuts Mandated for Colorado River

13 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

The Colorado River, or what it’s SUPPOSED to look like.

CNN reports today on a story that won’t get as many headlines as Afghanistan but is still a REALLY BIG DEAL:

The federal government on Monday declared a water shortage on the Colorado River for the first time, triggering mandatory water consumption cuts for states in the Southwest, as climate change-fueled drought pushes the level in Lake Mead to unprecedented lows.

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US by volume, has drained at an alarming rate this year. At around 1,067 feet above sea level and 35% full, the Colorado River reservoir is at its lowest since the lake was filled after the Hoover Dam was completed in the 1930s.

Lake Powell, which is also fed by the Colorado River and is the country’s second-largest reservoir, recently sank to a record low and is now 32% full.

CNBC has more on the specific cuts:

Water cuts will go into effect in January for Arizona, Nevada and Mexico, the Bureau of Reclamation said Monday. Arizona will take the biggest hit, with about 18% of the state’s annual apportionment cut.

The Colorado River supplies water and power for more than 40 million people across the West, while also fueling some 2.5 million acres of croplands. Among the cities it supplies is Phoenix, which was the fastest-growing city in the U.S. in the last decade, according to the Arizona Republic, and is now the fifth-largest city in the country.

In related news, Gov. Jared Polis and Western Governors sent a letter to the Biden Administration requesting that President Biden declare a FEMA drought disaster in western states. Roughly 99% of the western United States is under declared drought conditions. Colorado, Utah, Oregon, and Idaho are requesting additional federal money to help farmers across the region.

13 thoughts on “Historic Water Cuts Mandated for Colorado River”

Diogenesdemar says:

August 16, 2021 at 4:59 pm

“Let them drink carbon!”

“. . . would you believe ‘seawater,’ maybe?”

. . . it likely won’t be that very long before we all will start having to??!

(There goes the plans for those tree sprinklers, eh Fluffy?)

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MattC says:

August 16, 2021 at 5:23 pm

"Saudi Hay Farm In Arizona Tests State's Supply Of Groundwater"

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/11/02/453885642/saudi-hay-farm-in-arizona-tests-states-supply-of-groundwater

Exporting the water from the CRB has always struck me as… dubious.

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1. Conserv. Head Banger says:
  
  August 16, 2021 at 5:42 pm
  
  Growing such water intensive crops in a desert as hay, alfalfa, and corn strikes me not just as dubious, but foolhardy. The Israelis have been smart enough to do it, but not enough of America's farmers.
  
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  1. kwtree says:
    
    August 16, 2021 at 6:49 pm
    
    Dubious, foolhardy, and arrogant. Solar energy and wind farms would be the way to go if boosting the local economy is the objective.
    
    I know hemp is drought tolerant, but I don’t know if it can grow in a desert.
    
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    1. Diogenesdemar says:
      
      August 16, 2021 at 7:30 pm
      
      “Dubious, foolhardy, and arrogant” and also proof of one indisputable fact — ask any of our Western Slope friends — Water will always flow towards money. (Corollary, water will find its own economic level.)
      
      Didn’t Scott McInnis learn y’all anything in that musings he ~~wrote~~ plagiarized??
      
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      1. MattC says:
        
        August 16, 2021 at 8:50 pm
        
        Well, our CD3 Western Slope friends have new political leadership now. What has she said?
        
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        Duke Cox says:
        
        August 16, 2021 at 8:57 pm
        
        She said, "Argle Bargle"…I think.
        
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        MattC says:
        
        August 16, 2021 at 9:23 pm
        
        And people voted for her.
        
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        Sunmusing says:
        
        August 17, 2021 at 6:48 am
        
        well…magats voted for her, I don't know if they are people or not…
        
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davebarnes says:

August 16, 2021 at 8:14 pm

Is this going to affect my tap water in Denver?

If no, then who gives a dam.

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1. Sunmusing says:
  
  August 17, 2021 at 6:50 am
  
  It could effect the taps…if the west slope water doesn't get to your taps…there may not be enough to supplement the east slope's usage…there is a ripple effect that is going to travel throughout the west…
  
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  1. gertie97 says:
    
    August 17, 2021 at 8:32 am
    
    Western Slope water will get to Denver taps. See above the reference to water flowing uphill to money.
    
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  2. MattC says:
    
    August 17, 2021 at 8:47 am
    
    Describing the engineering magic that allows Colorado River water to drain through the Platte river basin as a "supplement" suggests that you trust gravity more than the law.
    
    I recommend everyone with an interest in water use defined in the Compact, read Citizen's Guide to Colorado Water Law (5th edition)
    https://www.watereducationcolorado.org/
    
    And that includes the vaquita porpoise.
    
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