Short-Term Measures Just the Start of What’s Needed to Save Colorado River
Nearly 100 years after the Colorado River Compact was negotiated, big changes are finally coming for senior water rights holders — at least in the short term.
Nearly 100 years after the Colorado River Compact was negotiated, big changes are finally coming for senior water rights holders — at least in the short term.
California water districts and Bureau of Reclamation officials today commemorated a series of 21 water conservation agreements that will save 1.6 million acre feet of Colorado River water through 2026.
Water levels in Lake Powell dropped to a new record low on Tuesday. The nation’s second-largest reservoir is under pressure from climate change and steady demand, and is now the lowest it’s been since it was first filled in the 1960s.
Water levels fell to 3,522.16 feet above sea level, just below the previous record set in April 2022. The reservoir is currently about 22% full, and is expected to keep declining until around May, when mountain snowmelt will rush into the streams that flow downstream to Powell.