Bureau of Reclamation Archives

BuRec Looks to Possible End of Paradox Desalination Project

A highly effective but problematic Colorado River desalination project in western Montrose County’s Paradox Valley could come to an end due to the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s difficulty finding an acceptable means of continuing it. The agency on Friday released a final environmental impact statement that included analysis of three new approaches for removing salty groundwater from the valley to keep it from eventually reaching the Dolores River and ultimately the Colorado River.

Full Story

Tensions from Water-Sharing Deal with U.S. Boil Over In Mexico

The farmers armed themselves with sticks, rocks and homemade shields, ambushed hundreds of soldiers guarding a dam and seized control of one of the border region’s most important bodies of water.

The Mexican government was sending water — their water — to Texas, leaving them next to nothing for their thirsty crops, the farmers said. So they took over the dam and have refused to allow any of the water to flow to the United States for more than a month.

“This is a war,” said Victor Velderrain, a grower who helped lead the takeover, “to survive, to continue working, to feed my family.”

Full Story

Trump Admin Fights Farmers’ Multimillion-Dollar Water Claim

September 29, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

The Trump administration is urging a federal court to reject a multimillion-dollar claim over water rights from California farmers, in the latest round of a politically sensitive and long-running lawsuit.

At issue is a decades-long case from major farmers claiming that the Bureau of Reclamation has failed to build a drainage system in the San Joaquin Valley’s Westlands Water District.

Full Story

Arizona, Other States Challenge Proposed Utah Pipeline that Would Divert River Water

September 11, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Arizona Daily Starby Tony Davis

Arizona and five other Colorado River Basin states are challenging a proposed pipeline that would divert to a booming Utah community almost as much river water as Tucson uses every year. Six of the seven river basin states — all but Utah — wrote to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Tuesday, seeking a delay in publishing a final environmental review, and in making a final decision, on the Lake Powell pipeline.

Full Story

Court Rules in Favor of Klamath Irrigation District, State Water Rights

August 12, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /Herald & News (Oregon)by Alex Schwartz

A win for state water rights came earlier this month after the Marion County Circuit Court ruled that the Bureau of Reclamation cannot release water from Upper Klamath Lake for flows down the Klamath River.

Full Story

IID Files Opening Brief in Lawsuit Against MWD

July 29, 2020/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Mike Lee /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

Following the Imperial Irrigation District’s recent win on a monumental water case in California’s appellate court against Michael Abatti, the water district is back in court filing the opening brief against the other large water district is Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District.

Last March, MWD took the unprecedented move to cut IID out of intrastate negotiations on the Drought Contingency Plan, promising to pay IID’s water bill to Lake Mead if water elevations shrank to 1,074 feet, triggering California’s response to the drought.

Full Story

Public Comment for Lake Powell Pipeline Open, Again, Until September

June 11, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /KJZZ Arizonaby McKenzie Stauffer

Comments, questions and concerns are now being accepted, again, for the Lake Powell Pipeline. This comes after the Bureau of Reclamation issued the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the pipeline, which is designed to pump water to Washington County.

Full Story

More Than $16 Million Provided to Nine Water Reclamation and Reuse Projects Around the US

June 9, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /Environment and Energy Leaderby Emily Holbrook

The Bureau of Reclamation is providing more than $16 million to nine congressionally authorized Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse projects. This funding, part of the WaterSMART Program, is for the planning, design, and construction of water recycling and reuse projects in partnership with local government entities.

Full Story

USBR Resumes Seismic Safety Project at Boca Dam

April 20, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /Water Power Magazine

The US Bureau of Reclamation is to resume a seismic safety modification project at Boca Dam near Truckee in California today, following its seasonal closure in November 2019, with social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other COVID-19 precautions to be followed during construction.

Full Story

Framework for Agreements to Aid Health of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a Starting Point With An Uncertain End

April 17, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Western Water (Water Education Foundation, Sacramento)by Gary Pitzer

Voluntary agreements in California have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state regulators. But no one said this would be easy.

Full Story

Posts