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Climate Change Likely to Keep Hammering Colorado River’s Biggest Reservoirs, Model Shows

/in , , /by /KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)by Luke Runyon

The Colorado River’s largest reservoirs are expected to keep struggling over the next five years due to climate change, according to the federal agency that oversees them.

The Bureau of Reclamation’s new modeling projections, which include this year’s record-breaking heat and dryness in some parts of the southwestern watershed, show an increasing likelihood of an official shortage declaration before 2026.

If dry conditions like the Colorado River Basin has seen since 2000 persist, the agency’s model shows an almost 80% chance of seeing an official shortage declaration by 2025. The chance of seeing the reservoir drop to a critically low level is about 20% in that same time period.

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Lakes Mead, Powell at Risk Again from Drought Despite Major Conservation Efforts

/in , , /by /Tucson.comby Tony Davis

For the second time in two years, federal officials are warning that Lake Mead could drop in five to six years to levels low enough to possibly warrant major Central Arizona Project water cutbacks to Tucson and Phoenix.

These warnings were ratcheted up significantly compared to forecasts made earlier this year. That’s due to the severely hot and dry weather that struck most of the West during the summer, including the hottest two months on record in Tucson and Phoenix in August and July, respectively.

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Nevada Residents Blast Utah’s Lake Powell Pipeline Plan

/in , , /by /AP News

A group of residents in a southern Nevada town that sits along the Colorado River are organizing a campaign to oppose a proposed pipeline that would divert billions of gallons of river water to southwest Utah, reflecting intensifying struggles over water in the U.S. West.

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‘The Pie Keeps Shrinking’: Lake Mead’s Low Level Will Trigger Water Cutbacks for Arizona, Nevada

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will again receive less water from the Colorado River next year under a set of agreements intended to help boost the level of Lake Mead, which now stands at just 40% of its full capacity.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation released projections on Friday showing that Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, will be at levels next year that continue to trigger moderate cutbacks in the two U.S. states and Mexico.

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$5 Million in Federal Funding Granted for City’s Desalter

/in , , /by /Camarillo Acornby Brooke Stanley

Progress continues on the city’s $66.3-million North Pleasant Valley Groundwater Desalter Facility, which has received nearly $5 million in federal funding.

The grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation will be used for the desalter plant that will treat brackish groundwater from the nearby Pleasant Valley Groundwater Basin. The filtered water will account for 40% of the city’s overall water supply once the facility is finished. It will help Camarillo wean itself from the more expensive imported water it has relied on since its incorporation in 1964.
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Officials Warn Colorado River Levels Could Fluctuate to Meet Summer Energy Needs

/in , , /by /KNAU Arizona Public Radioby Ryan Heinsius

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation recommends river runners secure their vessels to withstand changing levels and campers should set up tents in areas out of reach of the river. Officials plan to release higher-than-normal amounts of water from Glen Canyon Dam, possibly without notice, which will cause rapid changes to the Colorado River’s flow.

The Western Area Power Administration says there’s a possibility that Glen Canyon Dam will be needed to augment regional power supplies in the event of a system emergency. Releases could last a couple hours or even longer and the fluctuations will be more noticeable on weekends.

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Reclamation’s Burman Urges Cooperation On Water

/in , /by /Western Farm Pressby Tim Hearden

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman says she’d like to see more cooperation from California officials as talks aim to resolve a legal dispute over competing biological opinions governing the management of their respective water projects.

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Opinion: We’ve Stabilized the Colorado River – For Now. But Much Tougher Work Lies Ahead

/in , /by /AZ Centralby Tom Buschatzke and Ted Cooke

When U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman hailed the Drought Contingency Plans signed last year as “historic,” we wholeheartedly agreed. The plans were the product of years of discussion, negotiation and compromises among water users throughout the Colorado River Basin.

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FPUD Board Tours Conjunctive Use Project Sites

/in , , /by /Fallbrook Village Newsby Joe Naiman

The five Fallbrook Public Utility District board members were given a tour of FPUD’s Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project sites May 29.

Because a majority of the FPUD board members were present, it was legally required to be a noticed public hearing and the tour was officially a special meeting of the FPUD board. Although members of the public were welcome to attend they would have been required to remain in their own cars or trucks due to the coronavirus quarantine, but they would have been able to hear the audio communications.

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Even in Dry Year, Valley Farmers See a Bump in Water Allocation

/in , , /by /The San Joaquin Valley Sunby Alex Tavlian

Farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta received some welcome news on Tuesday.

After a set of spring storms in April, water allocations from the Central Valley Project are increasing almost across the board at a rate of 5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced.

Water users on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley will see a five percent increase in water allocation – from 15 to 20 percent of their contracted amount.

Municipal and industrial users, similarly, saw a five percent bump to 70 percent of their contracted amount of water.

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