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Mission 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.
Happy 75th Anniversary Year, Colorado River District! Water 2012 is a statewide water awareness initiative striving to connect Coloradans to their water through resources, events and activities. To learn more and find a celebration in your neighborhood watershed visit Water 2012.org.
Low snowpack signals water crisis at Lake MeadMother Nature is a fickle mistress.One year removed from near-record snow levels that sent 4 trillion gallons of much-needed meltwater into Lake Mead, winter has gotten off to a terrible start in the mountains that feed the Colorado River. Conditions are so dry that water supply forecasters have slashed their projections for Lake Mead by a whopping 2.45 million acre-feet in the past month alone.That's 24 vertical feet of water gone -- poof! -- from what had been a promising forecast for the valley's primary source of water. -Full report in the Las Vegas Review-JournalWhy this is important: If the
lower basin states of the Colorado River Compact overuse the Colorado
River, it puts pressure on the upper basin states, including Colorado,
to protect their compact allocation, which is already diminished by the
fact the size of the river was overestimated when the compact was signed
and the river was divided into allocations.
Even Lake Mead will eventually run dry if its outgo consistently exceeds incomeSouthern Californians are used to turning on the tap, or the sprinklers, and getting the water they want. Their ability to do so depends, in large part, on the Colorado River and the reservoir it feeds, Lake Mead.In 2008, Tim Barnett and David Pierce, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, wrote that t he lake - a lifeline not just for Southern California but for much of the desert Southwest - would soon teeter at the brink of failure. The Review-Journal in Las Vegas, a city especially dependent on that lifeline, responded with predictable bluster: "We'd love to buy some action on the odds provided by Mr. Barnett and Mr. Pierce. They can name the amount at stake. Are they willing to put their money where their mouths are?"
-More in the Los Angeles Times-
Why this is important: If the lower basin states of the Colorado River Compact overuse the Colorado River, it puts pressure on the upper basin states, including Colorado, to protect their compact allocation, which is already diminished by the fact the size of the river was overestimated when the compact was signed and the river was divided into allocations.
2012 Grant Program LaunchedApplications accepted Dec.1, 2011-Jan. 31, 2012
The Colorado River District is accepting grant applications for projects that protect,enhance or develop water resources within its 15-county region. The Colorado River District includes all watersheds of the Colorado River within western Colorado,except those that drain to the San Juan River. Projects eligible for the grant program must achieve one or more of the following objectives: - develop a new water supply
- improve an existing system
- improve instream water quality
- increase water use efficiency
- reduce sediment loading
- implement a watershed management action
- control tamarisk
- protect pre-1922 Colorado River Compact water rights
-Full press release--Application and related documents-
Help us preserve and enhance the Colorado River
By Eric Kuhn, David Modeer and Fred Krupp
The skier at Vail, the programmer in Phoenix, the doctor in Las Vegas, the student in San Diego, and the rancher in Wyoming may not know it, but they are bound together by the Colorado River, its tributaries, and the intricate systems of dams and reservoirs that manage its water supply. Often called the lifeblood of the West, the Colorado River grows our crops, bathes our kids, electrifies our grid, quenches our thirst, and quite literally floats our boats in seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
-Full Commentary-Why this is important: The Bureau of Reclamation is studying how future population growth and climate change may collide to bring crisis on how citizens of the West currently use the Colorado River.Colorado's snowpack off to a slow start
-Full report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service-Why this is important: In Colorado, we are snow farmers. The lifestyles we enjoy, the water we drink and the food we eat depend on the snowpack as a water supply.
Ski industry woes pale compared to wildfire risk, looming water shortagesJust a year after record snowfall throughout much of the Rocky Mountain West, the region is locked in a snow drought not seen since Jimmy Carter surrendered the White House to Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s. The massive Hayman Fire near Denver in 2002 (Forest Service). "We have had some very unusual weather so far this season," Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz said Friday. "Or the first time in 30 years, a lack of snow has not allowed us to open the back bowls in Vail as of January 6, 2012, and, for the first time since the late 1800s, it did not snow at all in Tahoe in December."
-Full report at Colorado Independent-
Colorado snowpack the 4th-lowest in the past 30 yearsDespite a dwindling snow pack and no sign of any big storms on the horizon, managers with Colorado's biggest municipal water provider say they're not yet concerned about the potential for a low runoff year. "A lot can happen between now and spring," said Bob Steger, manager of raw water supplies for Denver Water. Reservoir storage is above average and above last year's, with the Denver Water system at 90 percent of capacity, compared to the average 83 percent for this time of year, Steger said.
-Coverage in Summit County Citizens Voice-
Colorado River District opposes Flaming Gorge pumpback proposal
The Colorado River District is opposing a proposed Flaming Gorge Reservoir pipeline project through a motion to intervene with a federal regulatory agency that is reviewing the plan to pump water from the Wyoming reservoir to the Front Range of Colorado.
Fort Collins, Colo., businessman Aaron Million is proposing a 560-mile pipeline, the Regional Water Supply Project, which would carry up to 250,000 acre feet of water. It is under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its power-generating aspects. The River District's motion to intervene says, "The volume of water at issue would adversely impact existing users of Colorado's entitlement to the waters of the Colorado River, and could usurp the remainder of the state's compact allocation."
-Full press release-Partnerships in the Colorado River Basin Demonstrate National Promise of Interior's WaterSMART ProgramDuring the annual Colorado River Water Users Association Conference, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science Anne Castle announced the release of a report on the effectiveness of the Department of the Interior's national WaterSMART Program as demonstrated by its work within the Colorado River Basin. The report can be found at www.usbr.gov/watersmart.
-Press Release-Colorado River Basin a lab for federal water programs
A federal focus on water issues and climate change is paying dividends in the Colorado River Basin, where, under the WaterSMART program, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has made 15 grants to various organizations to improve water and energy efficiency and to develop climate-change analysis tools.Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science Anne Castle discussed the WaterSMART efforts last week at the annual Colorado River Water Users Association Conference.A recent WaterSMART report is online at www.usbr.gov/watersmart. It highlights scientific efforts underway in the Colorado River Basin such as the USGS Water Census, the newly formed Southwest Climate Science Center, established by the USGS at the University of Arizona, and Reclamation's ongoing Basin Supply and Demand Study. -Full story at Summit County Voice-Aiming to rein in use of Colorado-Big ThompsonThe Northern Water Conservancy District is proposing a rule that aims to make sure Colorado-Big Thompson water is not used outside of the district's boundaries.
The rule, proposed by the district's board of directors, is intended to keep cities and towns and others with C-BT water rights from selling the water for use outside the district.
-Full Article-
Colorado River Basin Study Enters Options and Strategies PhaseColorado, federal government, basin states begin phase with solicitation of stakeholder input.
The Colorado River Basin States and the Bureau of Reclamation publicly announced a process by which stakeholder and public input is being solicited for the most recent phase of the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study. This Study seeks to explore current and potential future imbalances in water supply and demand in this important basin system, as well as identify options and strategies for mitigating these imbalances.
-Press Release-Previous Summaries
Schedule of future Board Meetings
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rushing water
Colorado River Cooperative AgreementThe Colorado River District has joined 33 other West Slope entities in a historic proposed water supply agreement with Denver Water. The proposed Colorado River Cooperative Agreement offers water supply, environmental benefits and financial benefits to the West Slope as part of a negotiation regarding Denver Water's Moffat Tunnel Project.
Colorado River Cooperative Agreement10,825 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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