The Colorado River provides water for one out of every eight Americans for residential, indus-trial, mining, agricultural, and recreational needs. From 2005 to 2010, California consistently used more water than any other state, followed by Texas, Idaho, Florida, and Colorado. Dan Charles for NPR Could A Boulder Company Solve The Takeout Food Container Trash Conundrum? They cant follow the priority system. 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. Negotiators have had a bit of help from nature to start the year. Imperial County is already one of the poorest in California. Investors and the environment may benefit, but water will almost certainly be more expensive. Once criticized for being a profligate user of water, fast-growing Phoenix has taken some major steps including banking water in underground reservoirs, slashing per-capita use, and recycling wastewater in anticipation of the day when the flow from the Colorado River ends. Other fields are covered with alfalfa or grass that will become feed for cattle. Published: Apr. What has happened in Australia should be a cautionary tale for America, Mr. Kells said. 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. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) 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. Arizona city cuts off a neighborhoods water supply amid drought. 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. They require an estimated 2,126 and 1,226 gallons of water respectively to produce a pound of food. Greenstone then moved to sell the water to one of the right places: Queen Creek, a fast-growing suburb of Phoenix 175 miles away, full of tract houses and backyard pools. And all the positives that water has provided for 100 years in the state of Colorado are gone., Of course, not everyone has been displeased by the arrival of hedge funds reportedly paying millions in cash for old farms. Ultimately, we argued against it, he said. Restoring the Colorado: Bringing New Life to a Stressed River She is the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Whats being done? Light shines off the water flowing in a section of the Central Arizona Project on Oct . Escambia River Electric Cooperative. In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River 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. In the last few years, a new force has emerged: From the Western Slope of the Rockies to Southern California, a proliferation of private investors like Greenstone have descended upon isolated communities, scouring the driest terrain in the United States to buy coveted water rights. The previous owner had owned rights to the Chalk River, a tributary of the Arkansas, which irrigated the hayfields using ditches that dated from the Civil War. 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.. 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. Dan Charles for NPR There is a myth about water in the Western United States, which is that there is not enough of it. "We have the laws in place, you know, when water comes anywhere west of the Mississippi, it's first-come, first-served, and that's how it's always been," he says. Today it is 28% full. California receives the most Colorado River water at 4.4 million acre-feet. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. States come up with plan to save Colorado River water But for more than a hundred years, millions of people have relied on the water that flows into the Colorado River from the Rocky Mountain snowpack. That would be: Were basically going to put all the cuts on the major share of the economy. This allowed water to flow through the canal powered solely by gravity. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. All rights reserved. So it's been a high market. It took two years to redirect the river back into its original channel. Arizona, California, and Nevada combined to consume just over 6.5 million acre-feet last year, according to an annual audit from the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that oversees the lower basin. Victoria must navigate love and loss while her home town drowns under the rising waters of the Gunnison River. hide caption. The Upper Basin states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming did release a five-point plan this summer that points to the regions limited conservation options. Whether its fallowing fields, upgrading irrigation canals, or modernizing farming methods, Flores said, decisions made now will have lasting consequences.. In 2003, under pressure from the federal government, IID agreed to transfer about 10 percent of its total allotment of water each year to San Diego and another neighboring water district. But Mr. Eklund would like it to be. So youre going to see a very important negotiation.. They inherited the legal right to use that water, but they're now under pressure to give up some of it. It's now more salty than the ocean, heavily contaminated with agricultural runoff, and shrinking. Florida Keys Electric Cooperative. But if you know one tribe, you only know one tribe. Interior Department has said it will engage with tribes in the basin as parties hammer out some management details of the compact that are set to expire after 2026. Known as a compact call, such an event could trigger draconian, never-before-seen restrictions on water use in cities like Denver, while obligating them to search for alternative, higher-priced sources of water. hide caption. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. Today, the river provides water to 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farmland not just in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California but also to 29 Native American tribes and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. hide caption. Hay, corn, wheat, sorghum, and millet are the top five. 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. The water level in Lake Powell has fallen about a foot this year and stands 33 feet above the threshold where Glen Canyon Dam could no longer produce power. Steve Benson, managing partner of Benson Farms, points out a neighbor's field where a crew is planting lettuce. A resilient future on the Colorado must have tribal sovereignty at the forefront, said Daryl Vigil, Jicarilla Apache Nation water administrator and a staunch advocate for tribal inclusion in water management issues. Australia has also seen the advent of a market in complex financial products, such as derivatives, based on water. Feb. 11, 2023 Updated: Feb. 11, 2023 10:50 a.m. Instead, farmers are hoping for a deal in which the government will pay them to use less water. Home to about 300 people, depending on what time of year youre counting, the town sits on the California border, in a stretch of the Sonoran Desert encircled by fanglike mountains and seemingly dead rocky terrain. KGNUs Alexis Kenyon spoke with Dr. Jack Schmidt the director of the Center of . 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. By the end of May, Lake Mead will reach 1,051 feet. Why is the river drying up? To proponents of open markets, water is underpriced and consequently overused. Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico - US News LCRA's mission is to enhance the lives of the Texans it serves through water stewardship, energy and community service. A combination of chronic water overuse and historic drought conditions are creating chaos. Reclamation water managers responded with plans to hold back more water in Lake Powell but warned that Lake Mead water levels would drop. 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. The Upper Basin plan hinges on existing conservation programs. 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. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. hide caption. 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. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. Six of the Colorado River states agreed on water cuts. California did Researchers at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, N.M., works with . Click here to see how reuse and recycling could fit in to the West's strategy to save the Colorado River. 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. When I reached Holly Irwin, a county supervisor who lives in Cibola, by phone a couple of weeks after my visit, she was angry. Matthew Diserio, the president and co-founder of the hedge fund Water Asset Management, has called the U.S. water business the biggest emerging market on earth and a trillion-dollar market opportunity.. Cities use roughly 20% of the Colorado River's water, while agriculture uses approximately 80%. The whole history of the American West is about moving water, Mr. Gammage of Greenstone said. And crisis drives change.. 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. We went harder and faster than anyone and let the market rip, said Stuart Kells, a professor at La Trobe Business School in Melbourne. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton this year tasked Colorado River states with creating an ambitious conservation plan. Southern California water districts recently submitted a proposal to the federal government. hide caption. Sarah Porter, who's director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, says the Imperial Irrigation District is now at the center of these negotiations. Its the rural counties going up against big money., Grady Gammage Jr., a spokesman for Greenstone, said, In my view there is enough water both to sustain a significant agricultural economy on the river and to support urban growth in central Arizona.. David Morris, the water utility spokesman for the city and county, said the Colorado River water has allowed the region to wean itself off of unsustainable groundwater pumping. Mr. Kightlinger, of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, traces the recent private-investor interest in water to the 2015 crisis. If nothing changes, within a few years, Lake Mead would drop to a level called "dead pool" and water would stop flowing through Hoover Dam. The Colorado River provides water to more than 40 million people across seven southwestern states, 29 tribal nations and Mexico - and a lot of major cities in those states are heavily dependent on . His great-grandfather came to the valley from Sweden in the 1920s. In the Colorado River Basin as a whole, which services about 40 million people in seven states and is overtaxed to the point that it rarely ever reaches the ocean anymore, that number is 55%. What are the top crops grown in Colorado? 2002, 2018 and 2021 are the most intense dry periods on record for the basin. 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. By the summer, the process is expected to clarify the federal governments legal authority to make unilateral cuts to states water allotments. As of Wednesday morning, the surge of water released from the Glen Canyon Dam has reached Lake Mead, KTLA's sister station KLAS reports. Thats not what water is meant to be.. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. But Mr. Eklund denies that the firm is flipping water rights. The way this priority system works, residents of Phoenix would lose water before vegetable farmers in Yuma. A Farmer, A Chef, An Advocate And A Pie Guy Discuss Local Food Systems. Tickets start at around $89 for the former and $149 for the latter. Transferring water from agricultural communities to cities, though often contentious, is not a new practice. These farmers, in Imperial County, currently draw more water from the Colorado River than all of Arizona and Nevada combined. Why do we need to take additional actions now when there was so much water through all these recent storms?. The California proposal makes a constructive effort to uphold the Law of the River while making substantial efforts to protect the Colorado River system with voluntary reductions far beyond Californias legal obligations, JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, wrote in the introduction to the plan. It powers agricultural land and urban areas, serving roughly 1 in 10 Americans. U.S. states struggle to share dwindling waters of Colorado River It certainly seems that we have to reset our expectations for what we might be trying to get out of the river, said Lpez, a former Reclamation commissioner. Nevada, Arizona and Mexico will all receive less water from the Colorado River next year because of rapidly-declining reservoirs, the Interior Department announced on Aug. 16. Those who grow alfalfa in Southern Californias Imperial and Coachella valleys would keep their water before people in parts of Los Angeles. The Imperial Valley is a place of jarring contrasts. 30 water suppliers pledge to address Colorado River shortage - Los In fact, it's 5 feet. It lies below sea level, allowing water from the Colorado River to flow there by gravity alone. Its important for us to invest in things like outdoor water conservation and reuse, Morris said. Florida Municipal Power Agency. hide caption. He remains unidentified. "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. As reservoir levels drop, the document suggests California, which has rights to 4.4 million acre-feet of water, would need to cut more than 1 million acre-feet. Colorado River tributaries serve relatively small portions of northwest and southwest New Mexico. This area gets less attention than California's Central Valley, the nation's leading producer of produce and nuts, which draws its water from rain and snow in the Sierra Mountains, or pumps it from shrinking underground aquifers. That would be a disaster. He believes that the last best hope against the drought is a market-based solution, one that allows private investors seeking a profit a significant hand in redrawing the map of water distribution in the West. It wasnt just the drought: Californias crops had shifted from low-value seasonal vegetables like lettuce and bell peppers to permanent non-staples, like almonds, that were so valuable that it was no longer economical for farmers to sell water to cities, even as prices spiked. 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. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. All rights reserved. Driving across the expanse, where the temperature often hovers near 115 degrees, I found myself comforted by the sight of an oncoming eighteen-wheeler carrying bales of hay, which at least implied the existence of something living where I was headed. Many call conservation crucial. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)John Locher. But those who deal closely with water will tell you this is false. Keep independent community-powered radio strong in our community. The cuts could be drastic, she warned, reducing Colorado River water access by between 2 and 4 million acre-feet across seven states that rely on itclose to the 4.4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water California is entitled to annually. 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 . Its not necessarily a new concept in parts of Southern California, farmers have been paid for more than a decade to fallow land. Access to it can make or break both cities and rural communities. LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Lake Mead will be one foot higher by the end of the week after the release of water from Glen Canyon into the Colorado River. Much of the West, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas, was made by moving water. Agricultural water use makes up nearly 80% of total water consumption in the Colorado River basin, with roughly half of that going toward the production of alfalfa hay, according to a 2020. The four states at the headwaters of the river Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming also recently announced they plan to ask Congress to let them use federal money through 2026 for a program dubbed strategic conservation. It would resurrect a 2015 to 2018 pilot program that paid farmers to fallow land to cut water use. Water curtailment has long loomed over the Southwest. Native American tribes werent included and were referenced in one sentence: Nothing in this compact shall be construed as affecting the obligations of the United States of America to Indian tribes.. Water markets have been called a paradise for arbitrage, an approach in which professionals use trading speed and access to information for profit. You know, we in the water business have done a great job of saying, Waters the next oil, youve got to watch out, its going to be so valuable, he added. The compact contains a fail-safe mechanism if the river runs too low. Farmland meets the desert, separated by an irrigation canal, near Fruita, Colo.CreditNick Cote for The New York Times. Lake Mead: Feds will release more Colorado River water downstream after Who are the top 5 water consumers? 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. It will be baled into hay and fed to cattle such as those in the feedlot at the far end of the field. Without the river and its load of nutrients, marine productivity in the Gulf of California where the Colorado River once ended has fallen by up to 95 percent. The entire series, including Afterhours at the Radio Bookclub, is available as a podcast. Dan Charles for NPR 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. The snowpack in the Rocky Mountains, the main source of runoff that feeds the Colorado River system, is also higher than normal but not by as much as in California. There is plenty. Yeah. 151 Colorado firms on Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies list Its pretty tough right now.. They also know that this crisis is so severe that famers in the Imperial Valley will have to cut back, too. LCRA provides public power, manages the lower Colorado River, builds and operates transmission lines, owns public parks, and offers community services. The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 just 10 years after New Mexico became a state. Their legal rights won't do much good if there's no more water arriving from Lake Mead. The U.S. Today, tribes are at the table and a Mexico delegation is due to attend the conference. Were in a very fortunate situation here in Albuquerque to have two different and distinct sources of supply.. LAS VEGAS (AP) Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus this week for state and federal water administrators, tribal officials, farmers, academics and business representatives meeting about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River. "Something is not right when that's going on in the neighborhood.". Later, as the states negotiator on the Colorado River, he helped make it an official goal of the compact states. This scene is unlikely to last, though. 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. Agriculture all over the West required the development of irrigation infrastructure, such as dams and ditches, Mr. Libecap said. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. 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. A few of the fields are shrouded by showers of water delivered from long lines of sprinklers. 24, 2023 at 11:45 PM PDT. Who are the top 5 consumers of the water of the Colorado River? Sprinklers deliver vital Colorado River water to a field of celery in California's Imperial Valley. 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. Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, is skeptical. Seven arid states comprise the Colorado River BasinColorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Californiaand all exceed the national average for farm water use, with the exception of Wyoming, which uses 1.5 acre-feet of water per acre, in line with the national average. Steve Benson returned to the family business, Benson Farms in Brawley, Calif., after a career in engineering and real estate. "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. In exchange, San Diego pays the irrigation district more than $100 million each year. Lake Powell, last full in June 1980, is at 25%. 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. These fields owe their existence to fortune-seeking land speculators and engineers who, starting in 1901, dug a canal to bring water to this valley from the Colorado River. List of United States electric companies - Wikipedia 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. Agencies are making progress on large projects to deliver water to Navajo communities in western New Mexico. Often, the best land in the West is not along rivers, so you needed to move water.. The Grand Valley Ditch, running through Grand Junction, Colo., diverts water from the Colorado River to irrigate farms. In 2001, Pueblo West, a planned community 100 miles away, came calling. In 1922, a landmark agreement called the Colorado River Compact divided the river among two groups of states: the upper basin and the lower basin. The Biden administration is pushing to cut 2 to 4 million acre-feet in water usage, and is in negotiations with the seven states affected. The farmers say they understand that people need water for health and safety although maybe not for swimming pools and lawns. 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"The water of every natural stream, not heretofore appropriated, within the state of Colorado, is hereby declared to be the property of the public, and the same is dedicated to the use of the people of the state, subject to appropriation as hereinafter provided." Article 16. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. "What happened today was a step forward," said Kevin Moran, a water policy specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund. Geography was the key. Since leaving government, Mr. Eklund has become WAMs legal counsel and public face.

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