Bureau of Reclamation Archives

In Washington, Colorado Lawmakers Seek Long-Term Solutions for the Drying West

September 22, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /CPR Newsby Caitlyn Kim

Some members of Congress from Colorado and New Mexico are encouraging the Bureau of Reclamation to use new funding to find long-term solutions to the Western drought, and particularly the dwindling and overextended Colorado River.

In a letter to Camille Touton, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, the lawmakers shared their priorities for how the $4 billion in drought money from the Inflation Reduction Act should be used.

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Pure Water Oceanside Project on Track for $9.9M Federal Grant

September 8, 2022/in Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Chelsea Campos /North Coast Current Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The Pure Water Oceanside project, a purification facility for recycled drinking water that opened in Oceanside earlier this year, is on track to receive nearly $10 million in federal grant money, the city recently announced.

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Citing Nevada’s Example, Cortez Masto Calls on Feds to Make Other States Conserve Water

August 23, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Nevada Currentby Jennifer Solis

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto joined state water officials Monday to demand immediate federal action on the Colorado River water crisis as Nevada faces its second year of mandatory water cuts.

Last week, federal officials announced that Nevada would lose about 8% of its water allocation, or 25,000 acre-feet of water, starting January 2023 as a stopgap solution to stabilize water levels at Lake Mead.

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‘There’s Simply Not Enough Water’: Colorado River Cutbacks Ripple Across Arizona

August 22, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Arizona Republicby Debra Utacia Krol

Up and down the Colorado River last week, the state, local and tribal leaders in charge of water supplies for more than 40 million people waited to see if the federal government would impose deeper cuts to river allocations.

The Bureau of Reclamation had given states and tribes an Aug. 15 deadline to find ways to conserve 2 to 4 million more acre-feet of water to stabilize the drought-stricken river and its two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Without such a plan, the bureau said, it would act.

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Opinion: California Dodges Colorado River Water Cutbacks

August 18, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMattersby Dan Walters

One cannot overstate the importance of Colorado River water in the evolution of Southern California from a collection of small cities and villages into a megaregion of 20-plus million people — more than the population of all but three states.

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Colorado River Agreements: Why California was Spared and Arizona Wasn’t

August 18, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Gazetteby Marianne Goodland

Tuesday’s announcement by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that it would require Arizona and Nevada to reduce their annual allocation of water from the Colorado River came as no surprise to most water experts.

The reductions announced by Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton have been part of a long-standing agreement, known as the interim guidelines, since 2007.

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Clock Ticks Down on Colorado River Cuts. What Will Feds Do?

August 12, 2022/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /E&E Newsby Jennifer Yachnin

Western states that rely on the Colorado River Basin for their water supplies face a Tuesday deadline to tell the Bureau of Reclamation how they plan to cut back during the crushing drought that has shrunk the river. But as that date nears, the consequences for failure remain a key unknown.

Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton announced in June that states in the Colorado River Basin need to propose how to conserve between 2 million and 4 million acre-feet of water before a mid-August deadline, when the agency releases its 24-month projections for water levels in lakes Powell and Mead.

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Rain Helps Lake Mead Rise — 3 Inches

August 1, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Las Vegas Review-Journalby Marvin Clemons

With monsoon rains four out of the last five days in the Las Vegas area, there is at least one plus — Lake Mead has risen 3 inches.

At 7 p.m. Sunday the top of the lake was 1,040.99 feet above sea level at Hoover Dam. Five days ago, July 26, the lake measured at 1,040.75 feet.

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Farmers in Lower Basin Unite to Solve Drought Crises

July 14, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Desert Review

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) issued a call last June to the public for assistance in developing long-term operations on the Colorado River. This announcement came within days of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton’s message to a Senate Committee that the seven states of the Colorado River Basin must come up with an emergency deal by mid-August to conserve between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water in the next year to protect the entire Colorado River system, according to the Family Farm Alliance (FFA) newsletter.

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What Do Increased Releases From Folsom Dam Mean For Region’s Water Levels?

July 1, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CBS Sacramentoby Steve Large

Rising river levels? It’s been a surprising sight in recent days for people out along the American River.

California is in year three of a severe drought and people are being asked to conserve, but water releases from Folsom Dam are being dramatically increased this week.

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