Colorado River Basin

Amid Climate And Fed Pressure, Colorado River Water Managers Attempt To Chart New Course

By Luke Runyon • Oct 8, 2018

In 2007, years into a record-breaking drought throughout the southwestern U.S., officials along the Colorado River finally came to an agreement on how they’d deal with future water shortages -- and then quietly hoped that wet weather would return.

But it didn’t.

In The Colorado River, These Little Suckers Are Making A Comeback

By Luke Runyon • Oct 7, 2018

The temperature is hovering right around 90 degrees the day Dale Ryden and I float down the Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. The water looks so inviting, a cool reprieve from the heat, but if either of us jumped in we’d be electrocuted.

“It can actually probably be lethal to people if you get in there,” Ryden, a fish biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says.

Colorado River Flows Drop By 15 Percent Over Last 100 Years

By Luke Runyon • Sep 4, 2018

Warming temperatures are sapping the Colorado River, the water source for more than 40 million people in the southwest. A new study finds over the last 100 years the river’s flow has decreased by more than 15 percent.

Colorado River Projected To Hit Shortage In 2020

By Luke Runyon • Aug 16, 2018

Low water levels on the Colorado River could force water shortages in Arizona, Nevada and Mexico in 2020, according to a new forecast from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

A shortage on the river is tied to the level of its main reservoir, Lake Mead near Las Vegas, Nevada. If the lake drops past an elevation of 1,075 feet, water users downstream have to start cutting back how much water they use. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation projects the lake to drop below that level next year, triggering water cutbacks in 2020.

Utahns Move Towards Water Conservation While Keeping An Eye On Lake Powell Pipeline

By Judy Fahys & KUER • Jul 3, 2018

Brooks Kelly stopped at a display of smart sprinkler-system controllers.

“This 6-station timer — it’s got a rebate,” said Kelly, who works the plumbing aisle at the St. George, Utah Home Depot. “You buy it (and the) Washington County water district gives a $99 credit to your water bill. So, this is free.”

Colorado River Water Managers Can Imagine The Future And It Doesn’t Look Pretty

By Luke Runyon • Jun 25, 2018

Fear can be a powerful motivator.

The mention of one plausible future scenario along the Colorado River is enough to make some water managers in the West break into a sweat. It’s called the Compact Call, and even though it’s never happened — and is years away from ever happening — its invocation conjures up dystopian imagery of a southwest battling over scarce water supplies.

Colorado River Basin Watches As Arizona Reboots Drought Talks

By Bret Jaspers & KJZZ • Jun 20, 2018

Water leaders in Arizona are again trying to get to “yes” on a deal that deals with drought. This would help prepare the state for future cuts to its water supply if -- and likely when -- Lake Mead drops below specific levels. A renewed effort to achieve an agreement comes after a year of anxiety and gridlock over the future of the Colorado River.

Colorado River Reservoirs Expected To Be Less Than Half Full, Headed Toward Historic Low

By Luke Runyon • Jun 15, 2018

Reservoirs that store water along the Colorado River are projected to be less than half full later this year, potentially marking a historic low mark for the river system that supplies water to seven U.S. states and Mexico.

Forecasters with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation expect the river’s reservoirs -- Lakes Mead and Powell among them -- to be at a combined 48 percent of capacity by the end of September. That would be one of the lowest points ever for the combined water storage.

Climate Change Means A Hotter, Drier Future In The Colorado River Headwaters, Study Says

By Luke Runyon • Jun 5, 2018

The effects of climate change are already being felt at the headwaters of the West’s most important river system, according to a study released earlier this year.

The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization compiled the latest science on climate change in the Colorado River headwaters in a report titled Climate Change in the Headwater: Water and Snow Impacts (PDF), presented to the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments in February.

As Water Shortage Risk Increases, Federal Officials Add Pressure To Colorado River Talks

By Luke Runyon • May 16, 2018

The federal agency that oversees water in the West says southwestern states are facing an increasing risk of water shortages. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is now adding pressure to stalled talks over the Colorado River’s future.

Without action from states that rely on the river, there’s a 52 percent chance the Colorado River will be in an official shortage in 2020, according to figures compiled last month. Arizona and Nevada would be among the first to take cutbacks during a shortage. An extended drought and chronic overuse have sapped the river’s largest reservoirs.

Colorado River Basin

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