Tag Archive for: Drought

A Water War Is Brewing Over the Dwindling Colorado River

/in , , /by /ProPublicaby Abrahm Lustgarten

On a crisp day this fall I drove southeast from Grand Junction, Colorado, into the Uncompahgre Valley, a rich basin of row crops and hayfields. A snow line hung like a bowl cut around the upper cliffs of the Grand Mesa, while in the valley some farmers were taking their last deliveries of water, sowing winter wheat and onions. I turned south at the farm town of Delta onto Route 348, a shoulder-less two-lane road lined with irrigation ditches and dent corn still hanging crisp on their browned stalks. The road crossed the Uncompahgre River, and it was thin, nearly dry.

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Fourth Year of Drought Brings Extreme Limits to Water Supply

/in , , /by /The Sun-Gazetteby Maddi Langton

As California is preparing for their fourth year of drought, the Bureau of Reclamation warns Central Valley Project water contractors of lessened water allocations. Two months after the start of the new water year on Oct. 1, the Shasta Reservoir, the state’s largest reservoir and cornerstone of the Central Valley Project (CVP), is currently at 31% capacity.

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Why is the Colorado River Drying Up?

/in , /by /Newsweekby Robyn White

The Colorado River’s water levels are the lowest they have been in a century. Scientists fear the reservoirs the river feeds into could reach deadpool level in the next few years. That would mean the water level would be too low to flow downstream from a dam or to drive turbines to generate power. And these reservoirs are integral for surrounding water supply.

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Scant Progress on Colorado River Cuts as Crisis Deepens

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

State officials from across the Colorado River Basin seized on a single message as they gathered here to discuss the future of the struggling waterway last week: The river is in a state of emergency that will very soon reach a crisis for the 40 million people who rely on it, affecting agriculture and municipalities alike. But faced with doomsday projections from the Bureau of Reclamation about major reservoirs, officials agreed that harmony has not yet extended to how best to address the shortfalls triggered by more than two decades of drought, which have dramatically constricted both the river’s flows and water storage.

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Water Managers Across Drought-Stricken West Agree on One Thing: ‘This is Going to Be Painful’

/in , , /by /Nevada Currentby Jennifer Solis

Water authorities in the Western U.S. don’t have a crystal ball, but rapidly receding reservoirs uncovering sunken boats and other debris lost in their depths decades ago give a clear view of the hard choices ahead. If western states do not agree on a plan to safeguard the Colorado River — the source of the region’s vitality — there won’t be enough water for anyone.

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Watching the Death and Rebirth of the Colorado River in Mexico

/in , , /by /Deseret Newsby Kyle Dunphey

Manuel Machado Gerardo watched the mighty Colorado River Delta die perhaps more clearly than any man alive. Taking the final drags from his cigarette, he steps outside his home to greet the 112-degree heat and survey the hundreds of acres of northern Mexico farmland he’s owned for decades.

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Conferees Told Colorado River Action ‘Absolutely Critical’

/in , , /by /KNAU - Arizona Public Radio

The word “crisis” ended a Colorado River conference that drew representatives from Southwest U.S. states, tribes and Mexico to Las Vegas this week.

A top Interior Department official closed the Colorado River Water Users Association conference on Friday calling the next three months critical for agreements to deal with drought and climate change.

One deadline is next Tuesday, when federal water managers close public comment on an effort expected to yield a plan by summer to use at least 15% less river water split among seven Western U.S. states, 30 Native American tribes and Mexico.

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In Bakersfield, a Lawsuit Aims to Turn a Dry Riverbed Into a Flowing River

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

Conservation groups are going to court to try to bring back a flowing river in Bakersfield, where for years so much water has been diverted in canals to supply farms that the Kern River is usually reduced to a dry, sandy riverbed.

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How is San Diego Doing in This Drought?

/in , , /by /NBC 7 San Diego Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

A drought emergency has been declared in Southern California amid dwindling water supplies in the region. NBC 7’s Audra Stafford has details on how San Diego County fairs in this predicament.

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Growing Fears of ‘Dead Pool’ on Colorado River as Drought Threatens Hoover Dam Water

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

The Colorado River’s largest reservoirs stand nearly three-quarters empty, and federal officials now say there is a real danger the reservoirs could drop so low that water would no longer flow past Hoover Dam in two years. That dire scenario — which would cut off water supplies to California, Arizona and Mexico — has taken center stage at the annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas this week, where officials from seven states, water agencies, tribes and the federal government are negotiating over how to decrease usage on a scale never seen before.

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