A guest post from my Utton Center colleague and Colorado River research collaborator Rin Tara, staff attorney and water policy and governance analyst at the Utton Center, University of New Mexico School of Law. By Rin Tara Over the last year, I had the joy of working with John on a law review article …
Despite the Sturm und Drang of last week’s competing proposals to the federal government for managing drought and climate change on the Colorado River, there’s a lot to be hopeful about. On their faces, the Upper Basin and Lower Basin proposals have a lot of “Water’s for fighting over after all!” vibe. But if you …
Continue reading ‘Counseling patience on the current Colorado River kerfuffles’ »
A guest post from Jack Schmidt, crossposted from Utah State University’s Center for Colorado River Studies By Jack Schmidt | March 8, 2024 Reservoir storage didn’t change much in February 2024, demonstrating that the Basin’s water managers and users have succeeded in retaining the bounty of last year’s big runoff. This month’s assessment of Colorado …
Continue reading ‘Holding Course: February brings more of the same for basin storage’ »
By John Fleck It is agonizing to watch this, but here we are. With efforts by the Colorado River Basin states to craft an agreement to share the river’s water skidding, brakes screeching, toward a cliff, we appear on the brink of repeating the disastrous mistake the authors of the Colorado River Compact made a …
Continue reading ‘Ignoring an Inconvenient Colorado River Basin Risk’ »
By Eric Kuhn One of the commentors to our January 19th, 2024, blog post titled “Are We headed for the First Colorado River Compact Tripwire?” – John C. (who, by-the-way runs a very talented water resources engineering firm) raised several finer points to explore further: The first point deals with obligations of each Basin to …
Continue reading ‘On the Colorado River, there are no Simple Disputes’ »
By Jack Schmidt | February 12, 2024 (cross-posted from the Center for Colorado River Studies) Nothing really changed in Colorado River Basin reservoir storage during January 2024. That is really good news as the basin prepares for the upcoming irrigation season. 1. Total basin water storage did not significantly change during January 2024 (Fig. 1, …
Continue reading ‘No Change in Reservoir Storage … and That’s Good News’ »
The UC Merced Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI) points to drying over the Colorado River Basin over the next four weeks. EDDI is a new experimental tool that offers potential for tracking quickly emerging drought conditions by analyzing the evaporative demand of the atmosphere. It combines how moist things are with how hot and dry …
Continue reading ‘A dry forecast for the Colorado River Basin. A note on policy implications.’ »
Folks in Colorado’s San Luis Valley are engaged in a bold experiment in western water management – charging farmers for the water they use. Jerd Smith explains: A new rule approved by the area’s largest irrigation district, known as Subdistrict 1, and the Alamosa-based Rio Grande Water Conservation District, sets fees charged to pump water …
Continue reading ‘In Colorado’s San Luis Valley, paying for the water they use’ »
By Eric Kuhn and John Fleck The Bureau of Reclamation’s January 2024 “Most Probable” 24-month study forecasts that annual releases from Glen Canyon Dam for both Water Years 2025 and 2026 will be 7.48 million acre-feet per year (maf). If this happens, the ten-year total flow at Lee Ferry for the 2017-2026 period will drop …
Continue reading ‘Are We Headed for the First Colorado River Compact Tripwire?’ »
By Jack Schmidt | January 9, 2024 There was not much loss in reservoir storage in the Colorado River basin in December 2023. Total storage in the basin’s reservoirs only declined by 17,000 acre feet during the month, and the combined contents of Lake Mead and Lake Powell increased by 68,000 acre feet. At year’s …