Author: Jerd Smith Fresh Water News
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Colorado River Drought Task Force offers slate of potential fixes to drought-proof ailing waterway
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Colorado could spend millions more to replace water-hungry lawns, keep extra water in streams to protect fish and their habitats, and repair water-wasting farm and city delivery systems, according to a list of potential fixes from a state task force hoping to drought-proof the Colorado River. The 17-member panel finished its preliminary list of recommendations…
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Colorado River states faces new deadline on water usage reductions
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Another deadline to establish major cutbacks in water use in the seven-state Colorado River Basin is quickly approaching, as the states continue talks, as ordered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Last summer Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton ordered the states to figure out how to reduce water use by an enormous 2 million to 4…
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Colorado River flows will plummet this water year to 24% of normal: Bureau
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LAS VEGAS ? As the Colorado River crisis deepens, a new federal analysis of flows into Lake Powell shows that they will continue to plummet through 2025, before beginning to partially recover. James Prairie, a hydrologic engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said flows are likely to be just 24% of average this year, making it…
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Polis moves to revamp team dealing with Colorado River drought crisis
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Under pressure to protect the state’s dwindling supply of Colorado River water from other states with more political clout, Colorado is reshuffling its river leadership team and asking lawmakers to approve $1.9 million in funding for a new policy and technology task force on river issues. The changes include shifting Rebecca Mitchell from her role…
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Federal infrastructure money to help alleviate PFAS, lead in Colorado water
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Hundreds of thousands of Coloradans exposed to drinking water tainted by lead from aging, corroded city pipes or so-called forever chemicals will see clean water faster thanks to a historic infusion of $500 million from the federal government. The money, largely from the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is being funneled through the Colorado Department of…
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Colorado’s updated water master plan draws criticism for not going far enough
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Coloradans want the state’s top water planning document to mandate faster action, be more accountable, require equitable drought responses between the Front Range and Western Slope, and to specifically include the crisis on the rapidly drying Colorado River in its estimates of future water shortages. More than 1,300 individuals and agencies submitted public comments on…
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Colorado OKs drinking treated wastewater: Getting over the ‘ick factor’
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Colorado regulators, after years of study, negotiations and testing, approved a new rule that clears the way for drinking treated wastewater this week, one of only a handful of states in the country to do so. The action came in a unanimous vote of the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission Oct. 11. Direct potable reuse…
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Summer rains boost soil moisture to 8-year high, but Colorado water forecast “tenuous”
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Soil moisture levels are the highest they’ve been since 2014, and that could improve next year’s spring runoff season, water officials said at a meeting of the state’s Water Availability Task Force. Since May, the summer rainy season increased precipitation dramatically, with river basins across the state measuring precipitation that ranged from 110% to 160%…
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Reclamation: Upper Basin reservoirs insufficient to save Lake Powell
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Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which Bureau of Reclamation officials have used twice during the past two years to add water to the rapidly deteriorating Colorado River system, likely has only enough water left for two more emergency releases, according reclamation officials. Last summer, the Bureau of Reclamation ordered the release of 125,000 acre-feet of water from…
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Two new Colorado River deals give parched Lake Powell temporary relief
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Drought-strapped Lake Powell has received a major, if potentially temporary, reprieve with two emergency agreements that will provide 1 million acre-feet of Colorado River water this year to boost lake levels and protect hydropower production at Glen Canyon Dam. The water will come from an emergency release of 500,000 acre-feet from Utah’s Flaming Gorge Reservoir,…
