top five consumers of colorado river water

Officials fear complete doomsday scenario for drought-stricken Colorado River. Near its headwaters, in the farming community of Nathrop, Colo., I met up with Greg Felt, a county commissioner. In the last 20 years, tensions over increasingly scarce Colorado River water supplies have been rising in step with climate change and global temperatures. 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. of your water comes from the Colorado River. The farmers say they understand that people need water for health and safety although maybe not for swimming pools and lawns. Hamby says the district is looking to make a deal. As a result, the talks starting in January will be a vehicle for urgent attempts to manage the water, including replenishing downstream reservoirs. Roughly 180,000 people, most of them Mexican-American, live here in towns that include El Centro, Calexico, and Brawley. But Lpez said the additional release could have jeopardized regional water supplies. They believe that the West has an outdated and overregulated system governing access to water, which has encouraged the cultivation of crops in the desert. Adel Hagekhalil, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California general manager, warned this month in a statement that another dry winter could force officials to make voluntary measures mandatory. But Colorado River and reservoir management was designed during a much wetter period. That a lush hay farm had once been here seemed hard to believe. Youve got two drivers exacerbating the problem. Fourth in a series. The New Deal brings Colorado River water to a desert. 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. KGNU is made possible by listeners like you! Chaffee County is considered one of the hidden gems of the Rockies, a relatively unspoiled valley with a diverse economy in tourism as well as agriculture. Some fear that less water, and less farming, means fewer jobs and economic decline. "I think people would like to believe that we can somehow figure out a way to keep these economic activities, keep our kind of economies and livelihoods, going," Megdal said. So it's been a high market. Drafted in 1922, it allocates the rivers annual flow, dividing the water among seven states desperate for their share. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. As of Wednesday morning, the surge of water released from the Glen Canyon Dam has reached Lake Mead, KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. Lake Mead, seen here on April 3, has plummeted in recent years amid an epic drought. Here water is very scarce, and in periods of shortage traders essentially cheer on the drought, Mr. Kells said. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. He said an investor like WAM could help combat drought by creating its own storage account in Lake Powell. KGNUs Alexis Kenyon spoke with Dr. Jack Schmidt the director of the Center of Colorado River Studies at Utah State University about what a shrinking Colorado River means for everyone and everything it sustains. 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. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. Whether its fallowing fields, upgrading irrigation canals, or modernizing farming methods, Flores said, decisions made now will have lasting consequences.. It's about the future of the whole valley. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. From April through September, tours commence at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with . 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. Almonds and Walnuts According to a UNESCO Institute for Water Education study, shelled almonds and walnuts were among the top three most water-intensive foods. They also know that this crisis is so severe that famers in the Imperial Valley will have to cut back, too. One draft plan that's circulating among irrigation districts proposes annual payments of $1,500 per acre almost $1.4 billion in total in exchange for cutting water use by roughly 20 percent on almost a million acres of farmland. The Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California. Nor is it official policy yet. Investor interest in the river could redefine century-old rules for who controls one of the most valuable economic resources in the United States. "I think we would rather come up with voluntary agreements to live with a little bit less, to ensure that we have water," he says. And with the worst drought in 1,500 years parching the region, water anxiety is at an all-time high. 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. The whole history of the American West is about moving water, Mr. Gammage of Greenstone said. Six of the seven Colorado River basin states sketched out a joint proposal for how they could meet the federal governments demand to make unprecedented cuts to water usage as more than two decades of drought in the West have pushed crucial reservoirs to dangerously low levels. Today, tribes are at the table and a Mexico delegation is due to attend the conference. 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. If states, cities, big farms and utilities were able to buy water freely, especially across state lines, the allocations of the compact could be obviated and the governmental power to manage the fate of the river eroded. "You have a lot of leverage if you have a lot of water.". 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. Were in a very fortunate situation here in Albuquerque to have two different and distinct sources of supply.. Exclusive news, data and analytics for financial market professionals, Reporting by Liliana Salgado and Temis Tormo; Writing by Clarence Fernandez; Published: Apr. State Engineer Mike Hamman, New Mexicos top water manager, said the state really feels the shortages because it doesnt have the big reservoirs of other states in the Colorado River Basin. "They have the most water, and in some senses the most power," she says. "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. 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. The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922, just 10 years after New Mexico became a state. The Colorado River system is in a very dire condition, Dan Bunk, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation water manager, declared during internet presentations streamed Nov. 29 and Dec. 2 that invited public comment about possible actions. The top 5 states are Mississippi, Missouri,. But we will not serve as an emergency reservoir for uncontrollable, unsustainable urban sprawl, Cardenas said. Click here to see how reuse and recycling could fit in to the West's strategy to save the Colorado River. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)John Locher. Lake Powell, last full in June 1980, is at 25%. Similar deals have been struck in the past, although none involved so much money. Because the Colorado River is so large, envisioning the local impacts of water transfers can be a challenge for decision makers, especially when the communities are as remote as Cibola. In fact, it's 5 feet. Otherwise, the state has to invest in the whole thing and pay the opportunity cost of just having that water sitting there.. The water tower in El Centro, the county seat of Imperial County, notes a geographic fact that shapes this area's destiny. 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. 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. 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. The Imperial Valley, by contrast, has only one source of water: the Colorado River, 80 miles to the east. 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. The entire series, including Afterhours at the Radio Bookclub, is available as a podcast. 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. 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. Udall's projections for the Colorado River aren't a certainty, but if climate, drought and water conditions continue as expected over the next five years, the amount of water delivered from . Florida Public Utilities, a part of Chesapeake Utilities. Biden should not let Venezuelas regime run out the clock on democracy, Floridas surgeon general played loose with facts about vaccine risk, in negotiations with the seven states affected. This allowed water to flow through the canal powered solely by gravity. Demand management, as the policy is known, is an attempt to solve the so-called wrong places problem and free up water from agriculture and reroute it to urban uses and conservation. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post) For the second time in six months, states that depend on the Colorado River to sustain their farms and cities have failed to reach . The other half is mile after mile of green fields lined by irrigation canals. Associated Press journalists Brittany Peterson in Denver, Sam Metz in Salt Lake City and Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report. WAM and other investors could theoretically create their own reservoir accounts and let the water sit until its value was maximized. 2. 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. It lies below sea level, allowing water from the Colorado River to flow there by gravity alone. But they will also be looking at rebalancing water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead, two federally owned reservoirs that hold water to use in case of extreme drought. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton this year tasked Colorado River states with creating an ambitious conservation plan. Half of those acres lie within the Imperial Irrigation District. The idea is, if you pay the farmers enough, theyll go away, said Brad Udall, a water and climate researcher at Colorado State University whose family have been lawmakers in the region for 60 years. John Hernandez, a Mexican-American activist, says that there's also a question of fairness if most of the money that the irrigation district gets for using less water potentially hundreds of millions of dollars each year gets passed out to just a few hundred farms. 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. Ever since the late-2000s, the last time that water supplies in Colorado River reservoirs reached critically low levels, the biggest water users in Arizona, California, and Nevada have been stashing water in Lake Mead, in preparation for another emergency to come and in an attempt to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the region's water . Escambia River Electric Cooperative. 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.. But the states existing water conservation programs could be under increased scrutiny. 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. His water district uses about 2.6 million acre-feet of water per year to irrigate more than 400,000 acres of farmland for alfalfa, grasses and other crops. For two years, the states have released additional water from at least three reservoirs including New Mexicos Navajo Reservoir to prop up Lake Powell levels. The amount of water being used far exceeds whats actually available. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. Plus, A Surprising Number Of Food And Beverage Classes In Boulder County. Strategies include fallowing fields and making irrigation more efficient. Many call conservation crucial. But those who deal closely with water will tell you this is false. 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. Everybody got a little, he added. But the entire region must work together, Lpez said, to avoid more mandatory cuts. All rights reserved. A Florida ethics board has dismissed a complaint that allies of former President Donald Trump filed against Republican rival Gov. KGNUs Alexis Kenyon spoke with Dr. Jack Schmidt the director of the Center of . The All-American Canal carries water from the Imperial Dam, on the Colorado River near Yuma, Ariz., to a series of smaller distribution canals in the Imperial Valley. But here there was nothing to see: just an empty field of ankle-high weeds and crimson splotches of peat. Steve Benson returned to the family business, Benson Farms in Brawley, Calif., after a career in engineering and real estate. Of all the accomplishments of moving and storing water in the West from Hoover Dam to the mammoth Colorado-Big Thompson reservoir network none may be more impressive than a yellowing, sparsely worded 13-page document called the Colorado River Compact. One of the things I think weve learned over time is that a resource like water is best allocated through kind of a combination of market forces and regulatory oversight., He added, The market would say water is far more valuable serving urban populations.. Where water investors have historically gotten involved in markets is through agriculture, with mixed results. After . As of Wednesday morning, the surge of water released from the Glen Canyon Dam has reached Lake Mead, KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. 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. Dan Charles for NPR Farmland meets the desert, separated by an irrigation canal, near Fruita, Colo.CreditNick Cote for The New York Times. The State of Colorado could actually buy the water from them, Mr. Libecap said. Those forage crops, which cover the majority of the land, aren't usually as valuable as vegetables. 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. Instruct the economists to record Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Scotland on Monday for a short trip to visit his golf courses in the country and in Ireland. In exchange, San Diego pays the irrigation district more than $100 million each year. 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. 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. We let anyone come play.. Dan Charles for NPR If you're reading this, the chances are that some (or all!) In theory, a market-based approach discourages wasteful low-value water uses, especially in agriculture, which consumes more than 70 percent of the water in the Southwest, and creates incentives for private enterprise to become involved. Lake Mead was at 100% capacity in mid-1999. 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. A Farmer, A Chef, An Advocate And A Pie Guy Discuss Local Food Systems. Cities use roughly 20% of the Colorado River's water, while agriculture uses approximately 80%. hide caption. Water Law in Colorado Clay Electric Cooperative. In April, water administrators in Southern California imposed a one-day-a-week outdoor watering limit on more than 6 million people. The water will flow down the Colorado River system and eventually hit Pearce Ferry by April 26, and more water will flow into Lake Mead from April 26 to April 30. "And there's not enough time to litigate these issues," added Hayes, a former top climate aide to President Joe Biden. Those Upper Basin reservoir releases will likely continue next year, Interior officials said. hide caption. Access to it can make or break both cities and rural communities. In the winter, 90% of vegetables consumed in both the US and Canada are grown with Colorado River water. 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. But less snowpack and spring runoff resulting from climate change have led to several consecutive years when the utility and other New Mexico entities have received far less water than expected from the inter-basin project. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. In addition, those states are getting a hand from scientists at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. The ultimate goal of this high-flow experiment is to move sand and sediment along the Colorado River. By the end of May, Lake Mead will reach 1,051 feet. 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. The Colorado River basin has experienced three D4 droughts in the past 20 years, including the current one. [1/3]An aerial view of Lake Powell is seen, where water levels have declined dramatically as growing demand for water and climate change shrink the Colorado River in Page, Arizona, U.S., November 19, 2022. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Agricultural interests got the biggest share. Sprinklers deliver vital Colorado River water to a field of celery in California's Imperial Valley. However, the same water could also flow where water often flows: toward the highest bidder. They're trying to jump on the market early and have the first lettuce to be harvested.". 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. But officials in these farming districts with long-standing water rights do not intend to give them up without a fight or without compensation that meets their needs. Despite predictions for more such atmospheric rivers, of growing size and frequency, California cannot solve its long-term crisis without major investments to capture more storm water, restore flood plains and recycle wastewater. But Mr. Eklund would like it to be. 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 . Updated: Apr 26, 2023 / 01:55 PM PDT. Im optimistic that were going to sort through some of these more sticky problems with a good collaborative solution, Hamman said. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Thats exactly what we were hoping that our use of surface water would allow the aquifer to do, Morris said. There is a myth about water in the Western United States, which is that there is not enough of it. Rechanneling water from rural areas to thirsty growth spots like Queen Creek has long been handled by municipal water managers and utilities, but investors adept at sniffing out undervalued assets sense an opportunity. Utilities, which in previous dry years bought water from farmers, found they could no longer afford it. Keep independent community-powered radio strong in our community. The last time the feds utilized the high-flow experiment was back in 2018. Due to critically low current reservoir conditions, and the potential for worsening drought which threatens critical infrastructure and public health and safety operational strategies must be revisited, Bunk said. Thats the dilemma looking at how we can reduce demand with as soft a blow as possible, Hamman said. When started, they were hailed as a fast, flexible way of redistributing water on the driest inhabited continent, with little regulation attached. Mr. Eklund secured an account in Lake Powell. It has offered its own plan to conserve water. Who are the top 5 water consumers? 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. These farmers, in Imperial County, currently draw more water from the Colorado River than all of Arizona and Nevada combined. As negotiations have progressed in recent months, the Imperial Irrigation District has offered to cut its usage by 250,000 acre-feet or about 10 percent. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. The Kremlin is trying to kill Alexei Navalny. . Californias snowpack, aided by atmospheric rivers, could help drought. It's now more salty than the ocean, heavily contaminated with agricultural runoff, and shrinking. Sandbar at river mile 45 before (LEFT) & after (RIGHT), the 2012 high-flow. Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus this week for a conference in Las Vegas about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River, Colorado River Water Users Convening Amid Crisis Concerns, 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. Investors and the environment may benefit, but water will almost certainly be more expensive. 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. 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. Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico, Researchers at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, N.M., works with alfalfa on July 22, 2020. Most of the Imperial Valley actually lies below sea level, and well below the canal's starting point on the Colorado River near Yuma, Ariz. "Instead of eight cuttings of alfalfa, we might turn off the water in the summer and dry up the field, and let it come back in the fall," Benson says. But the basins water is essential for the states largest city: Albuquerque. The idea is to kind of mitigate that sand loss, and keep things close to the way they were before the dam, said Bob Tusso, a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist. Subsequently, the governments antitrust department started an inquiry. A letter signed by the six states showed they all recognised the need for a change in operating procedures for the Colorado River and deliveries from it, she added. The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 just 10 years after New Mexico became a state. 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. A basinwide conservation plan had not materialized by the mid-August deadline. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. His great-grandfather came to the valley from Sweden in the 1920s. (c) 2023 KGNU News Boulder Community Broadcast Association, If The Colorado River Were A Bank Account, We Ran Out Of Cash More Than 20 Years Ago, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), https://kgnu-news.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4-27-23AK_ColoradoRiver.mp3, Seicento Baroque Ensemble Brings Landmark Performance to Colorado with Bach's, "St. John Passion", Colorado Tax Payers Gave Away A Lot Of This Year's TABOR Rebates To A Handful Of Wealthy Coloradans, After Deadly Prom Night Crash, This Year Boulder Parents Are Organizing After Prom Parties And Safe Rides Homes, Somatic Psychotherapist Speaks On The Art Of Healing Ceremonies, Fernanda Nieto Plays A Mean Piano & Speaks On Lack Of Diversity, Poet Exposes Injustices & Promotes Self-Love. That lettuce will be in grocery stores by mid-November. Instead, farmers are hoping for a deal in which the government will pay them to use less water. Australia has also seen the advent of a market in complex financial products, such as derivatives, based on water. Other fields are covered with alfalfa or grass that will become feed for cattle. Top 5 US Consumers California is the largest consumer of water in the US. 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.. Theres a problem of aridification. 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. Dan Charles for NPR The term consultation gets thrown around in the basin a whole lot, Vigil said. The Imperial Irrigation District draws enough water from the river each year to cover. In the last 20 years, tensions over increasingly scarce Colorado River water supplies have been rising in step with climate change and global temperatures.

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