Tag: Lake Mead
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Amid Colorado River crisis, a massive surge spells ‘bright spot’ for the Grand Canyon
For 72 hours at the end of April, people on or around Glen Canyon Dam say they could feel it shaking, hear it roaring. “Intense” and “awesome” went some descriptions. Turbines and bypass tubes blasted water at such a volume and such a rate — 39,500 cubic feet per second — that Larry Stevens observed a hurricane-sounding…
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The Water Wars of the West have begun | Vince Bzdek
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Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Mark down January, 2023, as the month the Water Wars of the West began in earnest. Four incidents this month point to intensifying skirmishing ahead as the fight is joined over the dwindling amount of water carried by The Colorado River. The West’s most important…
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Colorado River states face new deadline on water usage reductions
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save 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…
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Feds to pay farmers to use less water, reducing Colorado River strain
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
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
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
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 wasn’t: A brief history of Colorado River agreements
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save 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…
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Federal government’s ‘underwhelming’ plan for the Colorado River falls short of goal
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…