lake mead
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Reclamation Commissioner Touton outlines efforts to safeguard Colorado River basin
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U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton touted the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration over the past three years, noting efforts that have poured billions of dollars into shoring up the Colorado River basin. Those efforts mean the near-term threat to the river basin has been fended off, and the system has been stabilized…
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Biden administration invests $700M in Colorado River conservation for Lower Basin states
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The Biden administration announced Thursday that it will invest $700 million in long-term water conservation projects in the Lower Colorado River Basin. According to the Department of the Interior, the investment could save more than 700,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead. An acre-foot of water is the amount it would take to cover one…
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Feds to pay farmers to use less water, reducing Colorado River strain
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The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Wednesday announced it will pay farmers in Arizona, Nevada and California to reduce their water use. The newly-created Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program will pay farmers in the the lower basin states of the Colorado River system to conserve water at prices ranging from $330 per acre-foot of water…
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California takes major step to cut back on use of Colorado River water
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California water providers, in a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, announced they would conserve up to 400,000 acre-feet annually of Colorado River water in Lake Mead, beginning in 2023 and continuing until 2026. “This water, which would otherwise be used by California’s communities and farms, will meaningfully contribute to stabilizing the Colorado River…
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Federal ideas reflect little progress toward solving Colorado River crisis
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The clock is ticking for the Colorado River, but solutions on how to save the river basin, which provides water to 40 million people in seven states and Mexico, still appears to be elusive, at least from the federal government. However, proposed solutions are starting to bubble up through Colorado agriculture’s community, including projects that…
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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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With the feds ‘light’ on steps, Colorado’s water experts explore challenges, opportunities
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Several of Colorado’s water experts on Thursday noted that the federal government’s plan for tackling dwindling Colorado River reservoirs is “light” on the next steps but that the river’s condition also offers opportunities to boost resiliency among Western states. “It’s a dismaying time, but one full of opportunity,” said attorney James Eklund of Sherman &…
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Why California was spared and Arizona hammered: A brief history of Colorado River agreements
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Tuesday’s announcement by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that it would require Arizona and Nevada to reduce their annual allocation of water from the Colorado River came as no surprise to most water experts. The reductions announced by Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton have been part of a long-standing agreement, known as the interim guidelines, since…
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Federal government’s ‘underwhelming’ plan for the Colorado River falls short of goal
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For 62 days, the seven states of the Colorado River faced a mandate to come up with a plan to conserve 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water by 2023. Failing to do so, Commissioner Camille Touton of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation warned, would mean the federal government exercising its authority to come up with…
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Arizona, Nevada to see Colorado River cuts under federal plan; California unscathed
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Update 4 Tanya Trujillo, assistant secretary for water and science at Interior, added in both the lower and upper basins, the Bureau of Reclamation will look at physical modifications to Hoover and Glen Canyon dams to see if there is a way to allow water to be released below either critically low levels at Glen Canyon…
