The high-stakes fourth tool — which water managers across the basin are counting on to rescue reservoirs, set a new management paradigm and provide long-term stability to the system — is new guidelines for how the reservoirs will be operated and shortages shared after 2026.
Tag: Post-2026 Colorado River negotiations
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No deal on Colorado River
Over the past few months, the positions of two of the states — Colorado and Arizona — have emerged as one of the main sources of disagreement.
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Report takes aim at Colorado River water managers’ inaction
This process would be somewhat expedited, unique and, for some, it raises concerns about transparency and whether the public comment periods that are typically a part of an EIS process will be shortened.
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Colorado River managers present plan to share water based on supply, not demand
Under the new supply-driven concept, the Upper Basin would still be responsible for making sure the agreed-upon percentage of water to be released from Powell makes it there — but Upper Basin officials aren’t calling it a delivery obligation.
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Colorado River Basin states have just weeks left to agree on plan
The seven states that use water from the Colorado River – Arizona, California and Nevada comprise the Lower Basin – have just over a month left to agree on how the nation’s two largest reservoirs would be operated and cuts shared in the future before the federal government may decide for them.
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Dwindling water supply, legal questions push Colorado River into ‘wildly uncharted territory’
Although the phrase often looms like a threat over Colorado River discussions, there is no agreed-upon definition of the term, what would trigger a compact call nor how one would play out.
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Future water conservation program almost guaranteed in Upper Basin
One is a Lake Powell Conservation Account that will store up to 200,000 acre-feet per year from conservation and from quantified but unused tribal water.
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Water managers deadlocked on Colorado River
The two basins have not moved any closer to a consensus during their nine-month-long standoff.
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Upper Basin states propose MOU with U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
There is urgency to figure out how the Upper Basin states can track, measure and get credit for conserved water because there will soon be more opportunities for water conservation programs.
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Lower basin calls for upper basin cuts; upper basin says ‘no way’
The upper basin’s proposal, however, says the four states will pursue “parallel activities” that include voluntary, temporary and compensated reductions in use, although the upper basin states do not offer a specific amount of water that they will conserve.