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Opinion: Review-Journal’s Feb. 15 Editorial on Federal Intervention to Solve Colorado River Crisis Contains Many Inaccuracies

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Review-Journalby Henry Martinez

The Review-Journal’s Feb. 15 editorial promoting federal intervention to solve the Colorado River crisis contains many inaccuracies.

Let’s start with the inference that a six-state proposal is an actual “accord,” lacking only California’s acquiescence. It is not. A “consensus” solution based primarily on reducing the entitlements of water users not involved in the discussions, or in concurrence with the final proposal — and namely the most senior water right priority tribes, lower Colorado River agricultural water users, California contractors and Mexico — is not consensus or an implementable solution to the crisis.

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In Dry West, Farmers Balk at Idling Land to Save Water

/in , /by /AP Newsby Suman Naishadham

Tom Brundy, an alfalfa grower in California’s Imperial Valley, thinks farmers reliant on the shrinking Colorado River can do more to save water and use it more efficiently. That’s why he’s installed water sensors and monitors to prevent waste on nearly two-thirds of his 3,000 acres.

But one practice that’s off-limits for Brundy is fallowing — leaving fields unplanted to spare the water that would otherwise irrigate crops. It would save plenty of water, Brundy said, but threatens both farmers and rural communities economically.

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Proposed Pause on Reservoir Releases Prompts Lower Basin States to Respond

/in , , /by /KUNCby Alex Hager

The three states that comprise the Colorado River’s Lower Basin – Arizona, California and Nevada – are weighing in on a proposal to pause some water releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in an effort to prop up Lake Powell.

Those states essentially agreed with the idea of suspending water releases, but said water managers should wait a few months to see the full effects of spring runoff, and leave the door open for additional releases if warranted. They also stressed the need for input from all of the states which use water from the Colorado River.

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Opinion: Holding Firm on Colorado River Water is Right Move

/in , , /by /Ag Alertby Craig William Morgan

There is an old saying in the water world that it is better to be upstream with a shovel than downstream with a law book, which is the position California finds itself in as it stands apart from its neighbors on the Colorado River in negotiations over the use of the river’s water.

On Jan. 31, representatives for the six other basin states submitted a proposal to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, describing the measures by which the supply deficit on the Colorado River should be closed in the near term.

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‘Weather Chaos’ Brings Enough Snow to Fill Verde River Reservoirs, Ease Drought Conditions

/in , /by /AZ Centralby Brandon Loomis

Meteorologist Bo Svoma hopped down into the 4-foot-deep pit he had shoveled and grinned like a school kid on a snow day.

“Bo is happy!” shouted one of his Salt River Project colleagues working snow survey duty on Tuesday.

There’s a lot for the metro Phoenix water supplier to be happy about this winter. What was supposed to be an unusually dry winter because of the return of the ocean and atmospheric phenomenon known as La Nińa has instead shaped up as the Arizona rim country’s second-snowiest season in 30 years.

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Current Rainy Season Could Be a Drought Buster, Forecaster Says

/in , , /by /KPBSby Thomas Fudge

This weekend brought San Diego county one of the season’s biggest winter storms.

A cold storm from the north on Thursday brought low temperatures and snow levels down to 2,000 feet of elevation. Then conditions warmed as an atmospheric river brought tropical moisture to the region.

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‘A Nice Sign’: Big Rockies Snowpack May Boost Lake Mead

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

It’s not even March yet, but the mountains that feed the Colorado River already have seen more snow this winter than they normally would through an entire snow season.

And with some snow in the forecast, there’s still more time for that snowpack to grow.

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LA is Capturing More Rain, but Increasingly Extreme Storms Present a Challenge

/in , /by /LAistby Erin Stone

It seems like we’re always in a drought in Southern California, so when it rains, the question becomes: Where did all that precious water go?

Well, not all of it ends up in the ocean. According to Art Castro, watershed manager at the L.A. Department of Water and Power, in the last four days alone, the city of L.A. captured enough water to fill about 8,900 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

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Opinion: Solving the Worsening Drought in the Western States Will Require All of Us Working Together

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein

For Californians, drought has been a constant and inescapable fact of life for decades. Worsening drought in the Western United States is just one of the many life-threatening impacts of the climate crisis. And as drying conditions bring water reservoirs along the Colorado River to dangerously low levels, the impact of extended drought conditions is now threatening 40 million Americans’ access to water — unless we can come up with a plan to protect it.

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Opinion: Imperial Valley Takes its Colorado River Senior Water Rights Seriously

/in , , /by /Desert Sunby Stephen Benson

Drought and population growth have taken their toll on the Colorado River, pushing it to historic lows.

As we work together with our neighboring states and the federal government on a long-term solution, many eyes are focused on the Imperial Valley, because of its senior water rights. And as much as we believe in upholding the rule of law, we are equally committed to being responsible water users and doing our part to keep the river healthy enough to meet the needs of all seven states.

 

(Editor’s Note: Stephen Benson is a farmer in California’s Imperial Valley, a board member of Imperial Valley Water (IVH2O), former board member of the Imperial Irrigation District and a current board member of the Family Farm Alliance and Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association. He can be reached at  

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