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Colorado River Deal Adds Mexico to Growing List of Water Cuts
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, National

Colorado River Deal Adds Mexico to Growing List of Water Cuts

By Shannon Mullane | The Colorado Sun The deal, which comes on the heels of big water cuts for three Western states, includes more cuts for Mexico. Officials from the United States and Mexico announced Wednesday a Colorado River water-sharing deal for the next two years as the basin continues to be overstressed by prolonged drought. The short-term deal, formally known as Minute 334, calls for Mexico to cut 250,000 acre-feet, or more than 100,000 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of water, in both 2027 and 2028. It also establishes an environmental work group and a pilot program to manage the salinity of Colorado River water as it reaches Mexico. “This Minute makes sure water is shared fairly among our users and protects the health of the Colorado River during...
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Is Colorado’s “final” Colorado River plan really final?
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Is Colorado’s “final” Colorado River plan really final?

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com I heard about two lawyers that argued for over an hour. Finally, one said, “That’s my final word on the subject.” To which the other replied, “Oh, good. Now we can begin.” In politics, contentious agreements are a bit like that, too. There is really no such thing as a “final” agreement, only the agreement that’s in effect until the next meeting. The Bureau of Reclamation just released its “Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.” It represents the government’s “final decision” on how it will manage the Colorado River over the next ten years. The first draft of the document was published in January, followed by months of public comments and meetings, an...
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Victor Marx Calls for Water Storage Expansion and Modern Infrastructure
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Victor Marx Calls for Water Storage Expansion and Modern Infrastructure

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette Victor Marx, the Republican nominee for governor, took the spotlight Wednesday during the opening day of the Colorado Water Congress, laying out how he says the state should approach its water future. Marx told the standing-room-only audience in Steamboat Springs that he holds water rights himself, giving him a personal stake in Colorado’s water challenges. His proposed fix? More storage. “We can’t make it snow, we can’t make it rain, but we can decide whether we’re prepared for when the water comes,” he said. “So, I believe we should store water in good years. Wet years. Lord, please send it.” He said storage gives farmers and ranchers reliability, options for communities and reduces emergency decisions. “...
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Lake Mead And Lake Powell Hit Historic Lows As Colorado River Crisis Deepens
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Lake Mead And Lake Powell Hit Historic Lows As Colorado River Crisis Deepens

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette In the past 10 days, both Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border and Lake Powell roughly 300 miles northeast on the Utah-Arizona line have recorded their lowest water levels since the reservoirs were first filled. Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir and which supplies water to Nevada, Arizona and California, measured 1,040.4 feet above sea level on Aug. 7. The level has continued to drop since then. On Monday, the reservoir measured 1,039.83 feet above sea level, nearly 190 feet below full and down about 2 feet over the past 30 days. A year ago, Lake Mead stood at roughly 1,054 feet. Hoover Dam, which created Lake Mead, was built in 1935. The reservoir was last at full in 1983. If the reservoir loses an...
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When Colorado’s water runs short what should come first: Food or fairways?
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

When Colorado’s water runs short what should come first: Food or fairways?

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com I met a guy at a golf course recently who expressed grave concern about the health of the grass this summer, because of Colorado’s ongoing drought. We hadn’t met before and knew nothing of each other’s backgrounds. But he entertained me with a tirade about Colorado’s waste of water, especially for agriculture. He asserted that 85 percent of Colorado’s precious water is used to raise livestock and feed for livestock, an outrage when there is so little for watering the greens and fairways. I was tempted to ask the man if he is a vegetarian, but I didn’t because I already knew the answer. Of course he is not a vegetarian; he is one of those activists who wants everyone else to change their lifestyles. The kind who want everyone else to r...
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Colorado ignored the warning: Now the aspens are disappearing
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GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado ignored the warning: Now the aspens are disappearing

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote that “Truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” Twenty-eight years ago, in the summer of 1998, the Club 20 Research Foundation published a report called “Decline of the Aspen: A Special Report on the Health of National Forests in Colorado.” It attracted substantial media coverage, widespread opposition to its recommendations, and even ridicule from some environmental industry groups that considered themselves superior experts on forest management. The Report suggested a growing crisis in Western Colorado’s aspen forests. Then-State Forester James Hubbard was quoted saying, “If the U.S. Forest Service po...
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Before blaming alfalfa for Colorado’s water woes, consider what the headlines leave out
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Before blaming alfalfa for Colorado’s water woes, consider what the headlines leave out

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Alfalfa and water use: comparing apples to oranges There is a media narrative out there about alfalfa which, though not entirely wrong, is desperately in need of context; this being another example of why reporters parachuting into rural areas of the state to report on things prior to running back to the Front Range is doing no one any good (rural or urban). The claim was recently repeated in a Sun article, along with its natural follow-on. Quoting from the first link below: “It takes 44 inches of water a year in Burlington to grow alfalfa. Only about 10 inches of water drops on Burlington in a year. It only takes 15 inches of water to grow a healthy crop of black-eyed peas in Burlington. So. The numbers ...
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Coastal desalination could save Colorado’s water. The pushback? Cost
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Coastal desalination could save Colorado’s water. The pushback? Cost

By Michael J Badagliacco, “MJB” | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s water rights must never become a bargaining chip.  The 1922 Colorado River Compact apportioned 7.5 million acre-feet annually to the Upper Basin, including Colorado, and the same amount to the Lower Basin states. The 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act fixed specific Lower Basin shares: California 4.4 million acre-feet, Arizona 2.8 million acre-feet, and Nevada 0.3 million acre-feet. The 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact later assigned Colorado roughly 51.75% of the Upper Basin’s share, or about 3.86 million acre-feet. The 1964 Arizona v. California Supreme Court decree confirmed federal oversight of these mainstream allocations while highlighting the need for supply solutions beyond repeate...
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Trump Rejects Arkansas Valley Water Pipeline Bill Citing Federal Taxpayer Burden
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Trump Rejects Arkansas Valley Water Pipeline Bill Citing Federal Taxpayer Burden

By Sophia Villalba | Denver7 DENVER — President Trump has vetoed a bill aimed at providing reliable, clean drinking water to rural communities in southeastern Colorado. It's another setback for the decades old "Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act" that would have completed a 130-mile pipeline bringing drinking water to 39 Colorado communities on the Eastern Plains. This is the president's first veto of his second term in the Oval Office. He rejected the bipartisan bill that passed both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate unanimously, saying the project would cost federal taxpayers too much money. The Arkansas Valley Conduit was first approved back in 1962, but according to the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, it wasn’t built for deca...
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Lower Arkansas Valley Farmers Sound Alarm Over Urban Water Demand
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KRDO.COM, Approved, Local

Lower Arkansas Valley Farmers Sound Alarm Over Urban Water Demand

By Bart Bedsole | KRDO OTERO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - There is a battle going on right now across the west between cities and farming communities... over water.  Southeastern Colorado has become a target lately of large thirsty cities, but now many of the folks who live there are voicing concerns about not only the future of their farms but the future of America’s food supply.  The Hanagan family in Otero County is among them.  Kim runs the family’s market along Highway 50 most of the time, where her sons frequently arrive with new shipments, while Eric Hanagan manages the farm a few miles south of Swink. He is the fifth generation in his family to farm their land, which now includes about a thousand acres. "We were founded about 1909," he says, “It...
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