The gruesome discoveries renewed interest in the lore of organized crime and the early days of the Las Vegas Strip, just a 30-minute drive from the lake. Felt said. SEATTLE, Wash., Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Colorado River, which provides drinking water to 40 million people in seven U.S. states, is drying up, straining a water distribution pact amid the worst drought in 12 centuries, exacerbated by climate change. It should free him. The Colorado River is tapped out. The event theme, A New Century for the Colorado River Compact, marks 100 years since a 1922 interstate agreement divvied water shares among interests in the seven states now home to 40 million people and millions of farmed acres. a line, or reservoirs have been emptied, have the water consumers show the amount of water they drew by raising their cups or calling out the amount. US rivers and lakes are shrinking for a surprising reason: cows Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus for a conference starting Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Las Vegas, about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. The Evergreen State takes the top spot again in the U.S. News Best States ranking on the strength of its tech sector and other industries. When you have pistachio and almond farmers willing to pay 10 times the average price, people sit up and say, How can I own some of this? he said. 2. Steve Benson returned to the family business, Benson Farms in Brawley, Calif., after a career in engineering and real estate. The upper basin includes Utah, Wyoming,. A historic influx of funding for infrastructure and drought response could also help New Mexico and other basin states reduce water use and prepare for a drier future. Many experts see its decision to sit out the agreement as fuelling the chances that the water fight will end up in the nation's highest courts. Who are the top 5 water consumers? Strategies include fallowing fields and making irrigation more efficient. If you're reading this, the chances are that some (or all!) The negotiations have the potential to redefine rules that for the last century have governed one of the most valuable economic resources in the United States. Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, at the river in Glenwood Springs, Colo. Marc Catlin, a Colorado state representative, noted the financial incentives for farmers. If someone was there to short water, they wouldnt be there anymore, he said. Feds cut Colorado River water allocations. What does it mean for Nevada Lake Powell, last full in June 1980, is at 25%. Interior officials did not issue any mandatory water cuts for New Mexico. The entire series, including Afterhours at the Radio Bookclub, is available as a podcast. Beginning Monday . What are the top crops grown in Colorado? Arizona, California, and Nevada combined to consume just over 6.5 million acre-feet last year, according to an annual audit from the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that oversees the lower basin. She is the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. Which States Consume the Most Water? | ERC An acre-foot (1,233 cubic meters) of water is generally considered enough to supply two urban households per year. In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River All rights reserved. According to water-policy professionals I spoke to, investors are already lobbying for it. The deadline for public submissions is Dec. 20 for a process expected to yield a final report by summer. Thats the dilemma looking at how we can reduce demand with as soft a blow as possible, Hamman said. Most of the water in the 1,450-mile-long river comes from Colorado, and as that states top water official from 2013 to 2017, James Eklund directed the creation of a comprehensive long-term plan to address climate change, the first by a state in the West. The dry period has lasted more than two decades, draining the major reservoirs along the river. "We have a situation where some of the water rights holders in California are saying, 'We're not willing to give up more water, and we think we have legal rights and we're willing to go to court if we have to'," said David Hayes, a lecturer at Stanford University Law School. Last year, Australias devastating wildfires and drought spiked water prices. "Something will have to give," said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona's Water Resources Research Center. The State of Colorado could actually buy the water from them, Mr. Libecap said. hide caption. Florida Public Utilities, a part of Chesapeake Utilities. The Imperial Valley, by contrast, has only one source of water: the Colorado River, 80 miles to the east. My fear is that the speculators are going to break it. Another dry year has left the watershed that supplies 40 million people in the Southwest parched. By the end of May, Lake Mead will reach 1,051 feet. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. Keep independent community-powered radio strong in our community. A Florida ethics board has dismissed a complaint that allies of former President Donald Trump filed against Republican rival Gov. He also pointed out that unlike the private investors who quietly, quickly and pseudonymously bought up valuable property in the Wests notorious land grabs like the acquisition of the Owens River rights by the City of Los Angeles WAM has purchased water rights in its own name. By the summer, the process is expected to clarify the federal governments legal authority to make unilateral cuts to states water allotments. It lies below sea level, allowing water from the Colorado River to flow there by gravity alone. At the moment, though, the dismal vista remains: What had once been a flourishing meadow lined with cottonwoods and willows now looked like a giant abandoned lot. Last month, 30 agencies that supply water to homes and businesses throughout the region joined the Las Vegas area in restricting the planting of decorative lawns that no one walks on. Dan Charles for NPR ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Colorado River tributaries in New Mexico bring water to the alfalfa fields in the Four Corners and the forested hills of the Gila wilderness in the southwestern part of the state. What is new is for private investors in this case an investment fund in Phoenix, with owners on the East Coast to exert that power. And now, water officials are grappling with how to make do with less. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. If this water is to be sold to anyone outside the Grand Valley, then its gone, said Mr. George of the Interbasin Compact Committee. Mr. Reclamation is in the process of an environmental review of how to operate Glen Canyon and Hoover dams at low-water scenarios. Top 5 US Consumers California is the largest consumer of water in the US. Roughly 180,000 people, most of them Mexican-American, live here in towns that include El Centro, Calexico, and Brawley. Seven arid states comprise the Colorado River BasinColorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Californiaand all exceed the national average for farm water use, with the exception of Wyoming, which uses 1.5 acre-feet of water per acre, in line with the national average. Scientists attribute extended drought to warmer and drier weather in the West to long-term, human-caused climate change. The Biden administration helped pave the way for that offer by pledging $250 million for environmental projects to address the dust-ravaged shorelines around the Salton Sea, Californias largest lake, thats fed by agricultural runoff from the Imperial Valley. Many call conservation crucial. That could change as more tribes reach water rights settlements and build out infrastructure to use those rights. New Mexico still uses only about half of its allotment under the compact each year. As investor interest mounts, leaders of Southwestern states are gathering this month to decide the future of the Colorado River. Native American tribes werent included and were referenced in one sentence: Nothing in this compact shall be construed as affecting the obligations of the United States of America to Indian tribes.. Theyd have to have a storage account of their own in a federal reservoir, and from my perspective thats a nonstarter, Mr. Mueller said. The situation has been compared to the energy markets of the late 1990s, in which firms like Enron made money from shortages (some of which, it turned out, traders engineered themselves). In theory, water saved by demand management could flow to the account, often called a pool within the pool, and be drawn upon if the current drought continues to realize worst-case scenarios. Why is the river drying up? "There's been a bad crop in northern California. A water conservation deal is in the works. Interior Department has said it will engage with tribes in the basin as parties hammer out some management details of the compact that are set to expire after 2026. The last time the feds utilized the high-flow experiment was back in 2018. The water flows will not add any more water to Lake Mead than otherwise scheduled for 2023, according to the feds. Beef cattle are the top agricultural product of Imperial County. But the largest water user, California, did not join them an impasse that suggests the wrangling over how to conserve the dwindling water supply that serves 40 million people will continue in coming months. At the edges of Lake Mead, the Nation's largest reservoir, a "bathtub ring" of mineral deposits approximately 100 ft. high shows the drop in water level after years of drought along the Colorado River. The price of the longer outing includes lunch. Thats exactly what we were hoping that our use of surface water would allow the aquifer to do, Morris said. It's now more salty than the ocean, heavily contaminated with agricultural runoff, and shrinking. CNN Deep uncertainty looms over the Colorado River and the 40 million people who depend on it for their water supply as the basin enters a critical year that could determine its future. Victoria must navigate love and loss while her home town drowns under the rising waters of the Gunnison River. As Colorados water commissioner, he piloted a demand-management program and was known for crisscrossing Colorados back roads to convince skeptical farmers of the benefits of the approach. Everybody gave a little. The proposal lays out potential new cuts for the states of the Southwest that lie downstream from the major reservoirs Arizona, Nevada and California as well as Mexico, which has treaty rights to a portion of the rivers water. The past two years have also seen healthy winter snow accumulation in the Rockies only to have runoff levels into Lake Powell that were a fraction of normal, as terrain dried out by the warming climate absorbed more of the water before it can reach the reservoir. WAM, based in New York and San Francisco, invests broadly in water-related ventures, and one of its core businesses is collecting water rights in arid states like Arizona and Colorado. All rights reserved. 30 water suppliers pledge to address Colorado River shortage - Los Geography was the key. Those who grow alfalfa in Southern Californias Imperial and Coachella valleys would keep their water before people in parts of Los Angeles. Cibola, Ariz., is one of the wrong places. The rules governing the system are not sustainable.. hide caption. The negotiating states will be focused on restoring the flow of the Colorado River, which has been so diminished by use that from 1998 to 2014 it did not even reach its natural terminus in the Gulf of California. Clay Electric Cooperative. Mr. hide caption. Ultimately, we argued against it, he said. Today, the river provides water to 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farmland not just in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California but also to 29 Native American tribes and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. The most valuable of these rights were grandfathered in decades before the population explosion in desert cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas, and privilege water access to small, often family-owned farms in stressed communities. "The droughts that we are seeing are becoming that much more severe because of the temperature component, they're warmer," Bolinger said. The California proposal makes a constructive effort to uphold the Law of the River while making substantial efforts to protect the Colorado River system with voluntary reductions far beyond Californias legal obligations, JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, wrote in the introduction to the plan. (Anthony Jackson/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) The Associated Press. Known as a compact call, such an event could trigger draconian, never-before-seen restrictions on water use in cities like Denver, while obligating them to search for alternative, higher-priced sources of water. Though it stopped short of calling for a shutdown, an interim report last summer recommended comprehensive changes in water markets, citing inadequate regulation and market exploitation by professional traders. Some fear that less water, and less farming, means fewer jobs and economic decline. FILE - A buoy sits high and dry on cracked earth previously under the waters of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Boulder City, Nev., on June 28, 2022. Florida Keys Electric Cooperative. Having a seat at the table means working with every tribe to learn their specific water rights and needs.. The water level in Lake Powell has fallen about a foot this year and stands 33 feet above the threshold where Glen Canyon Dam could no longer produce power. California split from the six states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming on Tuesday in the face of a U.S. government deadline to negotiate their own supply cuts or face possible mandatory cutbacks by the federal government. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. "If you get to a point where you're at dead pool, you have nothing at all. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in June told the seven states that are part of the Colorado River Basin Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming to determine how to use at least 15% less water next year, or have restrictions imposed on them. Rio Grande flows in Albuquerque are closely tied to the Colorado via the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project. Greenstone then moved to sell the water to one of the right places: Queen Creek, a fast-growing suburb of Phoenix 175 miles away, full of tract houses and backyard pools. In September, Nasdaq and CME Group, the worlds largest derivatives marketplace, announced plans to open a futures market for California water, joining it with commodities like Brent crude oil and soybeans. Its pretty tough right now.. Charting a Future for the Colorado River - The Nature Conservancy And all the positives that water has provided for 100 years in the state of Colorado are gone., Of course, not everyone has been displeased by the arrival of hedge funds reportedly paying millions in cash for old farms. How dry is the Colorado River Basin? We explain it in 5 numbers Instead, farmers are hoping for a deal in which the government will pay them to use less water. The same issues could resurface next year if officials look to the New Mexico reservoir as an emergency supply for downstream users. Demand for Colorado River water picked up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A few of the fields are shrouded by showers of water delivered from long lines of sprinklers. The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 just 10 years after New Mexico became a state. The two lakes, combined, were at 92% capacity in 1999, Bunk noted. They believe that the West has an outdated and overregulated system governing access to water, which has encouraged the cultivation of crops in the desert. Arizona announces $233 million in Colorado River water conservation James Eklund, legal counsel for Water Asset Management, favors a market-driven approach to water distribution in the West. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Transferring water from agricultural communities to cities, though often contentious, is not a new practice. The proposal would result in about 2 million acre-feet of cuts the low end of what the federal government has asked for and would be largest for the biggest consumers of water: California and Arizona. "The river has a gun to everybody's heads, and it's in everybody's interest to try to work out this thing," says JB Hamby, a member of the irrigation district's board of directors. Feds Will Cut States' Access to Colorado River Water They're trying to jump on the market early and have the first lettuce to be harvested.". Why do we need to take additional actions now when there was so much water through all these recent storms?. After heavy rains in 1905, the raging Colorado burst out of its normal channel, into the unfinished construction project, and carved a new, uncontrolled path into the Imperial Valley, creating an enormous lake called the Salton Sea. "On the one hand, you have the most disadvantaged community, but in the same community you have some of the richest farmers!" The water tower in El Centro, the county seat of Imperial County, notes a geographic fact that shapes this area's destiny. There is a myth about water in the Western United States, which is that there is not enough of it. Copyright 2023 KVVU. PHOENIX (CN) On the heels of one of the wettest Arizona winters in history, federal, state, local and tribal leaders united Thursday to announce a total of $233 million in funding for water conservation agreements to aid the Gila River Indian Community and other Colorado River users. The bureau forecasts that for the first time, Lake Mead will operate in a Tier 2 shortage condition starting in 2023. For the second time in six months, states that depend on the Colorado River to sustain their farms and cities have failed to reach an agreement on restricting water usage, setting up the prospect of the federal government making unilateral cuts this year. Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico - US News Flows during the past 23-year period are the lowest in the past 120 years and (among) the lowest in more than 1,200 years, Bunk told the webinar audience. Before above-average snows in recent weeks, the Bureau of Reclamation was projecting that Lake Powell could start to reach such thresholds by this summer. Mr. Mueller believes that the demand management pilot program triggered a land rush in rural western Colorado, with investors snapping up farms and flipping their water rights. Water Consumption Work at EROS Important Asset to Colorado River - USGS If we can get water users within places like the San Juan Basin to agree to shortage sharing agreements, then theres no need for strict priority administration, he said. California on Tuesday submitted its own proposal for how reductions should play out in coming years, depending on the elevation in Lake Mead. Driving across the expanse, where the temperature often hovers near 115 degrees, I found myself comforted by the sight of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler carrying bales of hay, which at least implied the existence of something living where I was headed. The other half is mile after mile of green fields lined by irrigation canals. Mr. Eklund secured an account in Lake Powell. In 2015, California got just 5 percent of its average annual snowpack, the lowest in 500 years. The emergence of open markets could outpace the negotiations. Under existing Colorado River agreements, that condition means starting next year, Nevada will have its water allotment cut by 25,000 acre-feet (8 percent). Lake Powell in Big Water, Utah. Subsequently, the governments antitrust department started an inquiry. Half of those acres lie within the Imperial Irrigation District. Felt drove me in his pickup to a wide spot in a two-lane highway where trucks towing horses and inflatable river rafts whizzed past. In fact, it's 5 feet. Tags: Associated Press, business, New Mexico, environment. In Australia, however, water markets have had unintended consequences. The water tower in El Centro, the county seat of Imperial County, notes a geographic fact that shapes this area's destiny. In Colorado, which is both an agricultural state and an outdoor recreation magnet, water is not just critical to the economy but an emotional part of the states identity and a political third rail. Camille Touton, bureau commissioner, tempered a warning during the water webinars about federal intervention she called it moving forward on the initiation of administrative actions with a vow to find a collective solution to the challenges that we face today.. The proponents of water markets say they are not in it just for the money. Report: Colorado's farm water use exceeds national average, despite "The reality is, we'll probably be taking more of our summers off. Fourth in a series. Its important for us to invest in things like outdoor water conservation and reuse, Morris said. The reality is we have an overallocated river, said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest water supplier in the country. (Anthony Jackson/The Albuquerque Journal via AP), Trump PAC Complaint Against DeSantis Rejected in Florida, North Carolina AG Urges Public Safety, Law Enforcement Bills, 7 Bodies Found During Search for Missing Oklahoma Teens. Agricultural water use makes up nearly 80% of total water consumption in the Colorado River basin, with roughly half of that going toward the production of alfalfa hay, according to a 2020. hide caption. Californias agricultural water markets a mosaic of online exchanges connecting farmers and water brokers are considered a potential model for the West: fast, flexible and responsive to extreme weather. Click here to see how reuse and recycling could fit in to the West's strategy to save the Colorado River. One of the central tensions of these complicated negotiations is how to balance cuts between farming regions against those in cities, including major population centers. We went harder and faster than anyone and let the market rip, said Stuart Kells, a professor at La Trobe Business School in Melbourne. It can decide the fate of every part of the economy, from almond orchards to ski resorts to semiconductor factories. Escambia River Electric Cooperative. T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oilman who died in 2019, was an early evangelist of water buys. New York investors snapping up Colorado River water rights - Reddit Lake Powell's drop last March to historically low water levels raised worries about losing the ability perhaps within the next few months to produce hydropower that today serves about 5 million customers in seven states. That lettuce will be in grocery stores by mid-November. Hay, corn, wheat, sorghum, and millet are the top five. The ongoing drought is a stark reminder that water conservation is not just smart planning but an absolute necessity to save the life of the Colorado River, Amelia Flores, chairwoman of Colorado River Indian Tribes, said ahead of the event. Lake Mead to rise one foot by Sunday after federal high flow water release, Las Vegas police: Man shot in street in west valley, 1 dead, 2 hurt in southwest Las Vegas Valley crash, Heavy, black smoke, flames seen near Cheyenne, Lamb, 2 suspects face arson charges after setting fires at Las Vegas Strip hotels, Clark County in dire need of foster parents for teens; Heres how to help, I lost everything: Recovering addict shares story of hope, helping others in Las Vegas, City turns on water at splash pads at parks across Las Vegas. The current canal, built during the New Deal and called the All-American Canal, delivers enough water to the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) each year to cover all of its irrigated land almost 800 square miles with 5 feet of water. U.S. cities that receive river water include Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. The Grand Valley Ditch, running through Grand Junction, Colo., diverts water from the Colorado River to irrigate farms. That just simply cant be reality, he said. But Lpez said the additional release could have jeopardized regional water supplies. Ron DeSantis, finding no legal basis for allegations that the governor violated campaign finance laws with a shadow run for the White House, North Carolina's attorney general is urging lawmakers to adopt several crime prevention proposals to tackle gun violence, the opioid crisis and the state's backlog of sexual assault cases, The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says the bodies of seven people have been discovered during the search for two missing teenagers. Lake Mead: Feds will release more Colorado River water downstream after "It's very early planting," he says. Built in the 1980s, Pueblo West was growing too fast to keep up with its water needs, so it bought the ranch and its rights. In exchange, San Diego pays the irrigation district more than $100 million each year. The Interior Department had asked states to contribute plans by Tuesday for how to voluntarily reduce water usage by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet or up to one-third of the rivers annual average flow. hide caption. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton this year tasked Colorado River states with creating an ambitious conservation plan. As WAMs Mr. Diserio likes to say, When you need water, water is the only thing that will do.. Plus, A Surprising Number Of Food And Beverage Classes In Boulder County. These fields owe their existence to fortune-seeking land speculators and engineers who, starting in 1901, dug a canal to bring water to this valley from the Colorado River. This novel introduces readers to Victoria Nash who is just a teenager in the 1940s, but she runs the household on her familys peach farm in the ranch town of Iola, Colorado. And youre still seeing continued growth. Investor interest in the river could redefine century-old rules for who controls one of the most valuable economic resources in the United States. LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Lake Mead will be one foot higher by the end of the week after the release of water from Glen Canyon into the Colorado River. Agriculture uses some 80 percent of the rivers water and also tends to have the most senior rights, some dating back to the 19th century. What has happened in Australia should be a cautionary tale for America, Mr. Kells said. A basinwide conservation plan had not materialized by the mid-August deadline. Despite deadlines, discussions have not resulted in agreements. But for more than a hundred years, millions of people have relied on the water that flows into the Colorado River from the Rocky Mountain snowpack. That would be a disaster. Later, as the states negotiator on the Colorado River, he helped make it an official goal of the compact states. But from the perspective of other states even those cuts wouldnt be nearly enough. The markets have become a paradise for arbitrage. He compared the dynamic to California in the 1990s, where fires and outages were beneficial for traders because of price spikes and you saw Enron traders cheering on fires..