As Arizona faces an ongoing mega-drought and a mounting water crisis, leaders are looking for ways to ensure Arizona’s water supply.
In 2023, Arizona will lose 20% of its water allotment from the Colorado River, and countless steps are have been taken by government officials in the state, with water conservation plans implemented by various cities.
Representatives of the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and the Colorado Board of California testified on Tuesday at an informational hearing about how Southern California is preparing for climate impacts to water supplies and the river’s status.
IID Board Vice President and California’s Colorado River Commissioner JB Hamby and IID Water Department Manager Tina Shields testified before the California State Assembly’s Water, Parks, and Wildlife standing committee.
The law of the River– the Colorado River, that is – says the farmers come first. That’s how they see it in California, in the Imperial Valley, where farming is big business.
Representatives of the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and the Colorado River Board of California testified Tuesday, May 2, during an informational hearing before the California State Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife standing committee.
According to a press release from Imperial Irrigation District, the IID Board Vice President and California’s Colorado River Commissioner JB Hamby and IID Water Department Manager Tina Shields testified at the state capitol on how Southern California is preparing for climate impacts to water supplies.
Historic snowfall across the Rocky Mountains is helping recharge some of the country’s biggest reservoirs and provide – briefly – some much-needed breathing room for the oversubscribed Colorado River.
Forecasts say the melting snow flowing into Lake Powell via the Colorado River and its tributaries could hit 177% of average this year, a major boost at a time when lake levels had hit historic lows.
With the future of the Colorado River and the amount of water it will be able to deliver to Southern California in question, the Long Beach Utilities Department is looking at investing $157 million into its groundwater system, which could reduce the city’s reliance on expensive and diminishing imported water.
Groundwater accounts for about 60% of the water that Long Beach residents use each year, and the Colorado provides about 25% of the city’s supply, with the rest coming from the State Water Project, both of which can fluctuate with precipitation patterns.
An extra pulse of water has been sent through the Grand Canyon this week. The Bureau of Reclamation is running a “high-flow experiment” at Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, which means a big release of water designed to move and redeposit sand and sediment will make its way downstream from the dam. This experiment is the first since 2018, and comes in response to forecasts for an above average spring snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains.
A railway project in Eastern Utah is drawing significant pushback in Colorado as elected officials voice concerns about crude oil risks to the Colorado River, which is the West’s primary freshwater river.
The Uinta Basin Railway project would build around 80 miles of train tracks connecting oil production to America’s rail network.
Lake Mead, in Arizona and Nevada, is the largest reservoir in the United States and part of the Colorado River system, which supplies water to seven U.S. states and part of Mexico, including one third of the water used in Southern California. It also supplies 30 Tribal Nations.
At the end of last year, experts predicted that, due to drought and heavy demand for water, Lake Mead was just two years shy of dead pool, when water levels drop below the point at which it can flow downstream of the reservoir.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
