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Protecting Western Colorado WaterMission Statement: To lead in the protection, conservation, use, and development of the water resources of the Colorado River basin for the welfare of the District, and to safeguard for Colorado all waters of the Colorado River to which the state is entitled.
Info on all upcoming State of the River Meetings
Global warming: USGS study shows 20 percent decline in Rocky Mountain snow cover since 1980Long-time skiers often say that skiing was better in the good old days, and new research from the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that those claims are based on more than nostalgia - notwithstanding the occasional bumper crop of powder like in 2010-2011. After taking an in-depth look at snowfall and temperature records, federal scientists said warmer spring temperatures since the 1980s have caused an estimated 20 percent loss of snow cover across the Rocky Mountains of western North America - especially at lower elevations where temperatures have the greatest effect. "Both natural variability in temperature and anthropogenic warming have contributed to the recent snowpack decline, though disentangling their influences exactly remains elusive," said USGS researcher and study co-author Julio Betancourt. -Reporting at Summit County Citizens Voice-
2012 Colorado River District Annual Report Highlights: Letter from River District President, James Newberry Colorado River District celebrates its 75th Anniversary Adapting to Record Drought Year Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study Compact Water Bank Ruedi Reservoir future secured by Western Colorado users State and Federal legislation; Grant Program H2O Outdoors Water Program, Financial Reports, and more WATER LINES: The Colorado River "Most Endangered,' but not lostThis week brought a mix of gloom and sunshine to the water picture for the Colorado River Basin. Gloom came in the form of a report by the conservation group American Rivers, which declared the Colorado to be the "Most Endangered River in America." The report highlights the fact that the river no longer meets the sea, as well as information from last fall's Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which showed that the river is already over-tapped, and imbalances between supply and demand are likely to get worse in the future. The figurative sunshine came, first of all, in the form of literal gloom: The skies darkened, and rain began to fall, then snow, and more snow (even in Grand Junction), and a slight uptick in the snowpack trend-line turned into a real spike, bringing snowpack levels in Colorado's part of the Colorado River Basin up above 90% of the average for this time of year, and double what it was at this time in 2012. -See full Water Lines column by Hannah Holm of the Water Center at Colorado Mesa University-Relief for the Colorado River DeltaA new agreement between Mexico and the United States called Minute 319 will ensure more water flows into the Colorado River Delta in Mexico, helping to restore parts of the once fertile region. -Coverage and a video from the New York Times-  Piceance Basin Water-Quality Data RepositoryMore than 50 years of water-quality data in the Piceance Basin are now available from the U.S. Geological Survey in two new reports. The need for this baseline water-resources assessment was identified by energy producers and local governments to address concerns regarding potential changes to surface-water and groundwater resources as large-scale energy development and population growth occurs in the Piceance Basin. The resulting data repository is the most comprehensive collection of Piceance Basin water-quality sampling information available in a single location. -Full Press Release-Low-runoff year may herald water shortage in ArizonaAnother year of very low precipitation and snowpack in the Rocky Mountains has spurred another year of low runoff on the Colorado River - the 10th such year out of the past 14. The low runoff means the Central Arizona Project - which provides Tucson drinking water - has a 35 percent chance of experiencing its first water shortage in history in 2016, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials say. For 2013, April-July runoff into Lake Powell at the Utah border is expected to be 38 percent of normal. That would be the fourth- lowest such total since the gates on Powell closed in 1964, says the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. -Coverage in the Arizona Daily Star-Why this is important: Drought along the entire Colorado River has water providers scrambling with restrictions, or in this case, facing a possible shortage. This development in Arizona illustrates both the effects of drought and its implications. Many providers will be watching to see how the water shortage possibility plays out and how it is handled.Reservoir storage will be enhanced by relaxation of the Shoshone Hydro Plant water rights callUpdate: On April 13, 2013, the Grand Valley Water Users Association water right of 730 cubic feet a second went on the river and caused the Shoshone relation to become moot. In the coming weeks, the relaxation is expected to remain moot as warmer weather will bring up flows in the Colorado River enough to allow upstream storage and to satisfy downstream irrigation rights. For the Blue River the Green Mountain Reservoir storage call with an administration number of 31258.00000, appropriation date of 08/1/1935 and adjudication date of 10/12/1955. Two back-to-back, drought-plagued winters in Western Colorado have triggered an agreement to "relax" a senior water rights call on the Colorado River at the Shoshone Hydro Plant to allow water providers to store more water this spring, a move that benefits Denver Water and the West Slope. The Shoshone Hydro Plant is owned by Xcel Energy and is located in Glenwood Canyon. Its senior 1902 water right of 1,250 cubic feet per second, when called, is administered by the Colorado Division of Water Resources against junior water storage rights upstream that include Denver Water's Dillon and Williams Fork Reservoirs, the Colorado River District's Wolford Mountain Reservoir and the Bureau of Reclamation's Green Mountain Reservoir. -Full Press Release- CWCB Launches Website for Watering Restrictions
The Colorado Water Conservation Board has launched a new website where residents across Colorado can quickly link to information about watering restrictions affecting their local community. The new website, www.COH2O.com, provides search features that allow visitors to quickly link to their water utility and learn of any local water restrictions that may be in place because of below-average precipitation and reservoir storage in many areas of Colorado. Latest Colorado River District Board Meeting Newsletter Board Reorganizes; elects new officers Stan Whinnery named to Hinsdale seat Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study Projected Future Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Basin Study points out gaps Colorado River District Praises Basin Study State Legislative Affairs Updated for 2013 Board Briefed on USGS Gaging System
Previous Issues The Colorado River District commends the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study released today to the public as a thorough and detailed call to action for Colorado River stakeholders to address a gap between human and environmental demands on the river system and the amount of water it produces annually. The study confirms what we already understand: The Colorado River is already fully used," said Colorado River District General Manager Eric Kuhn. "In the very near future, the demand for the river's resources will far exceed the available supply. In order to meet the needs of people and aquatic-dependent species and habitats, new ways of thinking and doing business will be essential." "We are surviving the imbalance by drawing down storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The situation is complicated by the reality that the Lower Basin is using more than its share of the river, relying on surpluses and water that flows from the Upper Basin's undeveloped share of the river," Kuhn said. -Full Press Release--Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar addressed the study-Colorado River Basin Supply and Demand Study
The Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado and Lower Colorado Regions, in collaboration with representatives of the seven Colorado River Basin States (non-federal Cost Share Partners), submitted a Proposal in June 2009 to fund the "Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study" under Reclamation's Basin Study Program. In September 2009, the Study was selected for funding.
The Study characterizes current and future water supply and demand imbalances in the Basin and assesses the risks to Basin resources. Resources include water allocations and deliveries consistent with the apportionments under the Law of the River; hydroelectric power generation; recreation; fish, wildlife, and their habitats; water quality including salinity; flow and water dependent ecological systems; and flood control.
-Bureau of Reclamation Study webpage-  Water WranglersThe 75-Year History of the Colorado River District: A Story about  the Embattled Colorado River and the Growth of the West by George SibleyWater Wranglers is the story of the Colorado River District's first seventy-five years, using imagination, political shrewdness, legal facility, and appeals to moral rightness beyond legal correctness to find balance among the various entities competing for the use of the river's water. It is ultimately the story of a minority seeking equity, justice, and respect under democratic majority rule - and willing to give quite a lot to retain what it needs. -More Information--Writer Allen Best interviews George Sibley in Mountain Town News-Recap of our 2012 Annual Water Seminar: "The Past, Present and Future"
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Colorado River Cooperative AgreementThe Colorado River Cooperative Agreement (CRCA) amount the River District, 41 other West Slope entities and Denver Water. The historic Agreement offers water supply, environmental benefits and financial benefits to the West Slope.
Colorado River Cooperative AgreementRisk Management for the Upper Colorado River BasinGeneral Manger Eric Kuhn has authored a paper that outlines risk-management issues associated with the growing use of water in the Colorado River Basin. It is called "Risk Management Strategies for the Upper Colorado River Basin." Kuhn lays out the risks lurking in the shadows as demands on the river exceed supply. He explores strategies to minimize the risk of a Colorado River Compact curtailment of the states of the Upper Basin, which are Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.
Risk Management for the Upper Colorado River Basin10,825 StudyJoint Water Supply Study by East and West Slope entities to provide summer flows to support the Upper Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Program.
click hereColorado River ManagementA West Slope Perspective
Existing and Proposed Transmountain Diversion Projects
Colorado River Management Roundtables Website LinkUse this link for the latest information about the Colorado Water for the 21st Century Act that created Basin Roundtables to discuss water supply issues and solutions.
http://ibcc.state.co.us/Colorado River's Uncertain FutureWhether it's climate change, drought or unresolved legal and political issues, the future of the Colorado River offers a flood of uncertainties that must be considered for this hard-working water supply.
Presentations by Eric Kuhn
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