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Opinion: Saving the Colorado River Requires Cooperation From All Parties in West

/in , , /by /Las Vegas Sun

These days, when we talk about water, we aren’t talking about “drought” — we’re talking about a new and enduring climate scenario. Despite fluke flooding like the Las Vegas Valley experienced Thursday night, we must act accordingly.

There is simply not enough water in the West to sustain the level of water consumption we currently demand. And there likely won’t be. Ever.

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Opinion: If Our Colorado River Water Supply is Cut, Prepare to See Empty Shelves at the Grocery Store

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Mike Wade

When you go to the grocery store and fill the cart with food for your family, you are part of a long process that begins with soil, water, sunlight and the labor of farmers and farm workers. Most likely, the farms that grow most of your food are in a neighboring rural area or within a day’s drive from your home. California grows 61 percent of U.S.-produced fruits, nuts and vegetables. Many of our winter fruits and vegetables come from the Imperial and Coachella valleys as well as from the San Joaquin, Salinas and Sacramento valleys the remainder of the year.

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WATER 101: A Recap of Where We Are Amidst a Historic Drought

/in , , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Luis Gomez Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

Local farmers may soon be forced to bite the bullet and find ways to use significantly less water in 2023 — potentially for a lot longer.

This drastic measure may come as a result of an emergency water conservation effort to prevent further depletion of the Valley’s main source of water, the Colorado River. If less water flows down the Colorado River, the consequences could be catastrophic for the two reservoirs — lakes Mead and Powell — that feed into the so-called basin states.

For example, if water levels in Lake Mead continue dropping, it could bring water and hydropower to a grinding halt, all due to a relentless drought over two decades.

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What the Startling Low Water Levels in Lake Mead Mean for LA

/in , , /by /LA istby Julia Paskin

NASA recently released startling satellite images of Lake Mead, which the agency notes is now at its lowest since April 1937, when the reservoir was still being filled for the first time.

A measurement taken on July 18 put Lake Mead at just 27% of capacity. That effect you see in the image above — with the lighter color on the cliffs where the water level once was — is known as the “bathtub ring.”

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The West’s Most Important Water Supply is Drying Up. Soon, Life for 40 Million People Who Depend on the Colorado River Will Change.

/in , , /by /The Denver Postby Conrad Swanson

White sandstone cliffs create a ring around Lake Powell in contrast to the honey- and red-colored desert rock nearby. Evidence that water once, not all that long ago, filled America’s second-largest reservoir.

Fed by the Colorado River, Lake Powell, in south-central Utah, has seen wet years and dry years over the past two decades. Mostly dry years.

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Shut Out From Talks on Colorado River Crisis, Tribes Want Inclusion and ‘Transformation’

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

Good morning. I’m Ian James, water reporter for The Times, filling in for Sammy Roth, who will be back next week.

It’s crunch time for the Colorado River. The river’s badly depleted reservoirs keep dropping, and the federal government has announced that major water cutbacks need to happen soon to prevent supplies from reaching perilously low levels.

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Lake Mead Forecast: Southwest Should Brace for More Water Cuts From Colorado River

/in , , /by /CNNby Rachel Ramirez

More extreme water cuts are all but certain in the Southwest starting next year – including new water cuts for California – according to the latest government forecast for the Colorado River and Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir.

Lake Mead, which provides water to roughly 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico, is losing water at an alarming rate amid an extraordinary, multi-year drought made worse by the climate crisis.

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They Sounded Alarms About a Coming Colorado River Crisis. But Warnings Went Unheeded

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

The Colorado River is approaching a breaking point, its reservoirs depleted and western states under pressure to drastically cut water use.

It’s a crisis that scientists have long warned was coming. Years before the current shortage, scientists repeatedly alerted public officials who manage water supplies that the chronic overuse of the river combined with the effects of climate change would likely drain the Colorado’s reservoirs to dangerously low levels.

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Farmers in Lower Basin Unite to Solve Drought Crises

/in , , /by /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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How Scottsdale’s Drought Plan Has Reduced the City’s Water Footprint

/in , , /by /KJZZby Katherine Davis-Young

In front of the Granite Reef Senior Center in Scottsdale, there’s a parking lot on one side, and off to the other side, there’s a space for the Scottsdale Trolley to stop. Between those areas is a patch of gravel and drought-tolerant desert plants. Six months ago, the senior center’s little xeriscape garden was about 3,000 square feet of turf. But it wasn’t intended as a sports field or a picnic area, it was really just a decorative space to divide two sides of the parking lot.

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