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A Wet California Boosts Water Allocations to 100% for First Time in Nearly 20 Years

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Grace Toohey

For the first time since 2006, California officials have increased allocations from the vital State Water Project to 100% of requested supplies, as reservoirs across the state are nearing capacity and an epic snowpack has yet to melt.

An unusually wet winter brought unprecedented snowfall and a succession of heavy rainstorms, pulling much of the state out of a punishing years-long drought and transforming the year’s water outlook.

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Colorado River Basin-Lake Mead-snowpack-Colorado River-Reclamation

Above-Average Snowpack Will Raise Lake Mead, Buy Time for Collaboration

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A federal report released April 20 says near-record snowpack in the Colorado River Basin could raise the elevation of Lake Mead by more than 20 feet by the end of the year, providing a critical opportunity for water agencies to improve long-term management of the river.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s report shows vastly improved hydrological conditions are also expected to raise the water level in Lake Powell by more than 50 feet. California relies heavily on lakes Powell and Mead for water, as do Arizona and Nevada.

Despite the good news this year, the ongoing trend toward a hotter and drier climate means long-term solutions remain critical. About two-thirds of San Diego County’s supplies are conserved Colorado River water.

Water rights

The San Diego County Water Authority supports a consensus-based approach for long-term solutions that uphold California’s high-priority water rights on the Colorado River.

“The report is definitely welcome news and will buy us time to make crucial decisions,” said Dan Denham, the Water Authority’s deputy general manager. “It’s critical that everyone with a stake in the river – including the Bureau of Reclamation, basin states, tribes and Mexico – continue to develop real and lasting solutions for the river’s long-term operation.”

Lake Mead water level

In its annual “24-Month Study,” Reclamation addresses changing conditions on the Colorado River and forecasts operations for the river system’s reservoirs for the following two years. Today’s report projects the above-average snowpack will help recharge the Colorado River. Up to 9.5 million acre-feet of water is expected to be released this year from Glen Canyon Dam into Lake Mead, an increase of 2.5 million acre-feet. That water could increase Lake Mead’s water level by more than 20 feet and break years of declines in the reservoir’s levels. Actual water releases into Lake Mead will be adjusted based on the observed inflow in Lake Powell.

The study follows Reclamation’s April 11 release of a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that considers changes to near-term operations on the Colorado River, including potential reductions in water supplies for California and across the Lower Colorado River Basin. The draft analyzes two alternatives, plus a no-action alternative.

Colorado River Basin

The Water Authority continues to collaborate with its partners on the Colorado River Board of California to ensure the state’s high-priority water rights on the river are upheld through the environmental review process.

“We are hopeful that Reclamation’s flow projections will materialize as expected,” Denham said. “At the same time, the Colorado River remains mired in decades of hot, dry weather that requires new thinking about water use and conservation across the Basin. As we work collaboratively to find consensus-based, long-term solutions that serve all water users, we will continue to advocate that any future actions uphold the Law of the River and California’s senior rights.”

Opinion: Imperial Valley Nears Day of Reckoning for Use of Distressed Colorado River

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

When white settlers forayed into what came to be known as the Imperial Valley at the dawn of the 20th century, they found a barren desert in California’s southeastern corner, unpopulated except for a few members of the Kamia clan of the Kumeyaay tribe.

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What Colorado Water Officials Think of the Federal Government’s Proposed Colorado River Cuts

/in , /by /The Colorado Sunby Shannon Mullane

The federal government has laid out its ideas for water cuts in the Colorado River Basin, which means time is running out for basin states to agree on a plan of their own.

In Colorado, water officials say the onus is on California and Arizona to make it work.

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Water Authority Supports Talks on Fed Draft Colorado River Proposal

/in , , /by /Water News Network Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego County Water Authority supports a consensus-based approach for long-term solutions to water supply issues in the Colorado River Basin. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on April 11 released a draft environmental document that considers changes to near-term operations on the Colorado River, including potential reductions in water supplies for California and across the Lower Colorado River Basin.

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Interior Offers Extremes on Colorado River Cuts to Spur Compromise

/in , /by /E&E News by Jennifer Yachnin

The Interior Department on Tuesday shared its proposal for expected cuts to Colorado River water allocations but acknowledged that the most extreme options — including a plan that would slash water deliveries to Arizona and Nevada — are unlikely to be included in a final decision this summer.

Instead, agency officials presented their emergency plan — which includes contrasting proposals that would either force California to forfeit a significant portion of its flows or concentrate the pain of cuts on Arizona and Nevada — as a set of “bookends” to motivate state officials to collaborate.

“I would not think about either of these three alternatives as something we’re asking people to choose, but rather, they’re models and alternatives and ways of defining the problem,” said Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau, referring to an update of the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines.

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U.S. Presents Proposals for Major Water Cuts on Colorado River

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

The federal government on Tuesday laid out two options for preventing the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs from falling to critically low levels, saying it could either impose cuts across the Southwest by following the water-rights priority system or by using an across-the-board percentage.

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Water Authority Supports Talks on Fed Draft Colorado River Proposal

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The San Diego County Water Authority supports a consensus-based approach for long-term solutions to water supply issues in the Colorado River Basin. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on April 11 released a draft environmental document that considers changes to near-term operations on the Colorado River, including potential reductions in water supplies for California and across the Lower Colorado River Basin.

Colorado River Proposal

Reclamation’s draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) analyzes two alternatives, plus a no-action alternative, to protect critical elevations at Lakes Mead and Powell, the two reservoirs California depends on for its river supplies. Both reservoirs have declined due to unprecedented low levels from more than two decades of drought.

The release of the draft SEIS, which would modify the set of operating guidelines that manage river operations through 2026, comes even as heavy snows this winter signal some relief on the river.

Collaboration and consensus-based approach

“While this winter’s storms delivered an incredible snowpack, the release of the draft SEIS highlights that we need to continue to work with all Basin states, the tribes and Mexico toward a consensus-based approach that provides real and lasting solutions for all water users,” said Dan Denham, deputy general manager for the San Diego County Water Authority.

The first of the two action alternatives in the draft SEIS acknowledges the priority system for water rights under existing agreements and laws. The San Diego region’s river supplies are largely protected from reductions because they are tied to California’s senior rights within the Lower Colorado River Basin as well as the Imperial Irrigation District’s (IID) high priority rights through the Water Authority’s conserved water transfer agreement with IID.

The second alternative calls for Reclamation to analyze the effects of reductions “distributed in the same percentage” for all water users in the Lower Basin states – California, Arizona and Nevada – despite there being no precedent or foundation for this approach under existing laws. It would mean across-the-board reductions for all water users in the region, including those with senior water rights.

Reclamation has stated it is expecting input from states, tribes and water agencies to fine-tune and adjust these alternatives. Discussions are ongoing between stakeholders.

Colorado River Board of California

“The Water Authority will continue to work in collaboration with our partners on the Colorado River Board of California to ensure California’s high priority water rights on the river are upheld through this SEIS process while we also work with all river stakeholders to develop long-term, durable solutions for the river,” Denham said.

The draft SEIS will be available for public comment for 45 calendar days and the final SEIS is anticipated to be available with a Record of Decision in Summer 2023, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. Comments on the draft SEIS are due May 30. This document will inform the August 2023 decisions that will affect 2024 operations for Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams.

The proposal to address immediate water supply challenges complements Reclamation’s ongoing process to develop new guidelines for Colorado River Operations when the current interim guidelines expire at the end of 2026.

Opinion: Is the San Diego-Imperial Model Part of the Solution for Colorado River Woes?

/in , , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In a sense, the record string of storms that hit California created two lakes — one real and one hypothetical.

The deluges re-established Tulare Lake, once the largest lake west of the Mississippi River that was drained long ago for agriculture and municipal water demands.

Meanwhile, the state’s record snowpack, according to the Los Angeles Times, holds enough water to fill the depleted Lake Mead on the Colorado River. Of course, that’s not where the runoff goes.

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Wet Winter Improves Colorado River Forecast; Big Cuts Still Coming

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journal by Colton Lochhead

An already wet winter in the mountains that feed the Colorado River got even better in March, providing a significant boost to the amount of water that forecasters expect to flow downstream into Lake Powell this summer.

The latest prediction from the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center shows that the river will swell to 177 percent of its average volume during the all-important April-through-July period as the snow melts and flows into the river and its tributaries.

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