A new federal proposal for managing the Colorado River would force states to reassess their strategy every two years over the next decade. That would mark a shift from the old way of doing things, which saw water-sharing rules implemented for 20 years at a time, with no mandatory check-ins along the way.
Policymakers and policy analysts say the new strategy would come with pros and cons.
Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, California began work Monday on a broad package of projects involving water reuse, fire preparedness, and habitat repair, according to ABC 7 News. All of these projects aim at making the botanical garden more resilient in the face of drought and fire risk.
Officials said the plan’s new underground stormwater capture system will hold about 1.5 million gallons. It’ll take in up to 21 million gallons of stormwater annually from a 256-acre drainage area.
Dozens of communities and environmental groups in the Colorado River Basin are asking Congress for $2 billion to endure what they’re calling “one of the most challenging hydrologic years in more than a century of recordkeeping.”
Celene Hawkins, who leads the Nature Conservancy’s Colorado River program, said Friday the money could help with a wide range of projects to respond to the drought.
A potential “super” El Niño later this year could bring much-needed relief to the drought-stricken Colorado River system, raising hopes for improved snowpack, reservoir levels and water supplies across the American West.
The river irrigates millions of acres of farmland and provided water to tens of millions of Americans, making the prolonged drought a major concern for long-term water stability. Key reservoirs along the river have seen declining water levels in recent years, raising concerns about power generation, water supply, and local ecosystems.
Lake Mead is projected to hit an all-time low by summer 2027, according to new projections released by federal authorities.
The reservoir is forecast to drop to 1,020 feet in July 2027, 20 feet lower than its previous record low of 1,040 feet in July 2022. That year, long-sunken boats and once-submerged rocks emerged from the water.
Arizona, California and Nevada, the three Lower Basin states, have struck a deal to conserve 3.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River water over the next two years.
It’s no fix for the water crisis, but it buys the basin more time to hammer out a long-term solution with the other states.
EMILY KWONG: Hey, Short Wavers. Emily Kwong here with NPR alum, now Independent science writer, Dan Charles.
DAN CHARLES: Hi, Emily.
EMILY KWONG: Hi. So I hear you just got back from the front lines of the California water wars.
The Trump administration has announced a plan to kill Biden-era drinking water limits on four Pfas “forever chemicals”, and to delay the implementation of standards for two other compounds.
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing two separate rules to delay and rescind the limits. The rules must go through an approval process that can take several years, and almost certainly will be challenged in court.
Data centers use vast amounts of water primarily for evaporative cooling, spraying it into the air or over coils to cool hot air generated by servers in order to keep the equipment from failing. The largest data centers can consume between 1 and 5 million gallons of water daily, with consumption rising during the summer.
There are currently 286 data centers in California, and more are on the way. A very large new data center is targeted to be built by 2028 in Imperial, a small city 115 miles east of San Diego. The 950,000-square-foot center could be the largest operating statewide, taking up 17 football fields’ worth of land.
California officials announced Friday that the State Water Project will deliver more water than expected in 2026.
The Department of Water Resources increased the project’s water allocation to 45% from 30% of requested supplies. The allocation tells the state’s 29 public water agencies how much water they can expect to receive. Those agencies supply water to 27 million Californians and irrigate about 750,000 acres of farmland.
