OPINION: Lower Basin Must Adapt to Colorado River Hydrology

A February deadline for determining future operating guidelines for the West’s two largest reservoirs came and went with no agreement on the table and clear lines drawn in the sand.

A seven-state resolution to how Lake Mead and Lake Powell will be operated when the interim guidelines expire at the end of this year wasn’t reached by Feb. 14, and the lack of a sound technical or legal plan by the Bureau of Reclamation in favor of political rhetoric may propel the situation into increasingly dire straits.