basin states Archives

Nevada, Arizona and California Commit to Record-Setting Conservation to Protect Colorado River

October 20, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /Fox 5 Vegas by C.C. McCandless

The Southern Nevada Water Authority announced that the state will continue to collaborate with Arizona and California on a long-term sustainable plan for the stability of the Colorado River.

According to a media release, the Bureau of Reclamation is moving the process forward to develop new operating guidelines for the Colorado River that will be in effect after 2026. To that end, the Lower Colorado River Basin states— water users in Nevada, Arizona and California—are contributing record volumes of water to Lake Mead.

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Colorado River Basin States Stake Out Positions on the Future of Mead, Powell Reservoirs

August 23, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /The Colorado Sunby Shannon Mullane

Colorado River Basin states don’t agree on very much when it comes to the future operations of the basin’s largest water savings banks. One thing they do agree on: The current rules aren’t working.

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Colorado River Basin States Reach Historic Deal on Water Cutbacks to Stave Off Crisis

May 22, 2023/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Andrea Mora /Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

A deal has been reached to conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water in the Colorado River through 2026, the Department of the Interior announced on Monday. More than half of that would be saved by the end of 2024.

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Deliveries to Be Cut as Lake Powell Approaches Crisis Level

April 26, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Las Vegas Sunby Jessica Hill

Lake Mead’s “bathtub ring” is set to become even more pronounced this year.

The lingering drought is the overriding reason that the lake’s water level will fall again in 2022, but it’s also because less water will be released upstream on the Colorado River from Lake Powell.

This month, the seven Colorado River Basin States — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — agreed with federal officials’ recommendations to institute a 480,000 acre-foot reduction from Glen Canyon Dam on Lake Powell to reduce the risk of the lake declining below 3,490 feet.

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Utah Water Legislation Concerns Colorado River Basin States

March 16, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /KJZZ Arizonaby Ron Dungan

Drought has forced several states to rethink how they use the Colorado River, but Utah is trying to figure out how to get more water out of it. Utah’s plan to build a pipeline from Lake Powell to the St. George area has raised eyebrows from the six other Colorado River Basin states. In September, those states wrote a letter reminding Utah of their history of collaboration. It concluded by saying that the pipeline could result in litigation. Utah’s response was to create a new water board.

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