Tag Archive for: Lake Powell

Colorado River Conditions Are Worsening Quicker Than Expected. Feds Prepare to Step In.

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

Running out of time and options to save water along the drying Colorado River, federal officials said they’re considering whether to release less water from the country’s two largest reservoirs downstream to Arizona, California and Nevada. Without enough snow this winter, the water level at Lake Powell — the country’s second-largest reservoir — will drop below a critical level by next November, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

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Opinion: Feds Demand Colorado River Water Cutbacks

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

One must wade through a thicket of bureaucratic jargon to find it, but on Friday federal officials issued what appears to be a serious warning to California and other states that use water from the highly stressed Colorado River: If they cannot agree on sharp reductions in diversions of the Colorado’s water, the feds will impose them unilaterally. It’s the latest wrinkle in decades of interstate squabbling over the river, which has become more heated as the river’s flows continue to decline and conditions in its two major reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, reach the crisis stage.

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Colorado River Managers Looking to Release Less Water from Lake Powell

/in , , /by /The Colorado Sunby Chris Outcalt

Colorado River managers looking to protect critical infrastructure at Lake Powell’s Glen Canyon Dam are seeking the ability to release less water from Powell next year as they work to rebalance demand on the troubled river. “We are taking immediate steps now to revise the operating guidelines to protect the Colorado River System and stabilize rapidly declining reservoir storage elevations,” reclamation commissioner Camille Touton said late last week in a written statement.

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New US Plan Could Lead to Federal Action on Colorado River

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca and Kathleen Ronayne

The Interior Department announced Friday that it will consider revising a set of guidelines for operating two major dams on the Colorado River in the first sign of what could lead to federal action to protect the once-massive but shrinking reservoirs behind them. The public has until Dec. 20 to weigh in on three options that seek to keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell from dropping so low they couldn’t produce power or provide the water that seven Western states, Mexico and tribes have relied on for decades.

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Colorado Snowpack Levels at 229% of Average, A Good Start for Lake Mead

/in , , /by /KLAS Las Vegas by Greg Haas

Snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin is more than double the average normally seen at this time of the year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s website.

A snapshot of the water situation shows above-average precipitation levels at five of the nine regions that make up the basin, and overall snowpack at 229% of average as of Oct. 24. Overall, precipitation is at 83% of average.

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Collaboration Key to Stabilizing Colorado River Basin Decline

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

Collaboration among all water users is key to developing solutions for the Colorado River Basin, which is in the midst of a 22-year megadrought. That was one of the common themes during a webinar Thursday, in which water managers and other officials discussed ways to slow or stabilize the rate of decline of the major source of water for seven states and Mexico.

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Opinion: California’s Water Usage was Built on a Historic Lie. The Cost is Now Apparent

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Michael Hiltzik

It’s human nature to mark big-number anniversaries, but there’s a centennial looming just ahead that Californians — and other Westerners — might not want to celebrate.

It’s the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact, a seven-state agreement that was signed Nov. 24, 1922.

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Farming, Water and Wall Street On Colorado’s Western Slope

/in , /by /AP Newsby Chris Outcalt

Under the blazing afternoon sun, Joe Bernal navigates a shiny-green John Deere tractor onto a dirt road a few miles north of downtown Fruita. Bernal is headed to cut hay in a field a few hundred feet down the road. On his way, he points out the land his family has acquired over the years. His grandparents had 150 acres over there. His parents bought this land here. His great grandparents, who showed up in 1925, lived in a house right there.

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A Warmer, Drier West: A Detailed History and Possible Future of Water Use in the West

/in , , /by /KCETby Kim Stringfellow

On October 13, 1893, Major John Wesley Powell, celebrated explorer, geologist and Civil War veteran, addressed delegates of the Second Irrigation Congress in Los Angeles, declaring to the capitalists, politicians and boosters attending (and whose main agenda was to develop the arid West), “What matters it whether I am popular or unpopular? I tell you, gentlemen, you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights, for there is not sufficient water to supply these lands.” Powell’s blunt prophetic statement did not win support. The delegates booed him off the stage.

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Sweating Through the Heat Wave in California’s Hottest County

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

It was just before 9 a.m. and already nearing 100 degrees as I stared out at the menacing steel pillars of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in California’s far southeastern corner. My long-sleeve shirt stuck to my skin. Sweat dripped down my back.

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