Greg Felt, a county commissioner, at a dried-up alfalfa farm near Nathrop, Colo. acquisition of the Owens River rights by the City of Los Angeles. I have seen time and again the wisdom of using incentives that attract private sector investment and innovation, Mr. Eklund said. But the states existing water conservation programs could be under increased scrutiny. 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. Many call conservation crucial. 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. Today, tribes are at the table and a Mexico delegation is due to attend the conference. Their legal rights won't do much good if there's no more water arriving from Lake Mead. (Photos: U.S. Geological Survey/Willie Taylor) Lake Mead is now projected to rise 33 feet higher than expected this year . The proponents of water markets say they are not in it just for the money. "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. A Florida ethics board has dismissed a complaint that allies of former President Donald Trump filed against Republican rival Gov. That is about 1 million acre-feet less than the three states are entitled to use under a legal compact that divides the Colorado River's waters. Scientists attribute extended drought to warmer and drier weather in the West to long-term, human-caused climate change. That a lush hay farm had once been here seemed hard to believe. "And there's not enough time to litigate these issues," added Hayes, a former top climate aide to President Joe Biden. Going by established law, Leimgruber says, those latecomers would be cut off from Colorado River water completely before the Imperial Irrigation District gives up any of the water to which it's entitled. A prolonged 21-year warming and drying trend is pushing the . Water Law in Colorado "They have the most water, and in some senses the most power," she says. According to the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Lake Mead will rise from 1,047 feet on Monday to 1,048 feet by Sunday. A field of alfalfa, freshly cut, dries in the sun. 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. WAM and other investors could theoretically create their own reservoir accounts and let the water sit until its value was maximized. 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. In the winter, 90% of vegetables consumed in both the US and Canada are grown with Colorado River water. These farmers, in Imperial County, currently draw more water from the Colorado River than all of Arizona and Nevada combined. Today, they are at 26%. Many experts see its decision to sit out the agreement as fuelling the chances that the water fight will end up in the nation's highest courts. Dan Charles for NPR What top five states have rivers? PHOENIX (CN) On the heels of one of the wettest Arizona winters in history, federal, state, local and tribal leaders united Thursday to announce a total of $233 million in funding for water conservation agreements to aid the Gila River Indian Community and other Colorado River users. The tribal reservation in western Arizona includes more than 110 miles (177 kilometers) of Colorado River shoreline. Gary Libecap, a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who specializes in water issues, believes that movement of water necessarily generates a public good, whatever form it takes. It's about the future of the whole valley. 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. His great-grandfather came to the valley from Sweden in the 1920s. A report in the journal Nature last year found 2000-2021 to be the driest 22-year period for southwestern North America in at least 1,200 years. Hamby says the district is looking to make a deal. Utilities, which in previous dry years bought water from farmers, found they could no longer afford it. Theres a problem of aridification. So it's been a high market. The proposal by the six states Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming aims to protect the major reservoirs in Lake Powell and Lake Mead from falling below critical levels, such as when the dams would no longer be able to generate electricity or at dead pool, when water would effectively be blocked from flowing out of these lakes. 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. My fear is that the speculators are going to break it. 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 giant reservoirs of Lake Mead and Lake Powell are shrinking fast, and the federal government is calling on all users of the river's water, which include farmers and cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, to come up with a plan to cut their water use. hide caption. Felt said, The water came off the land and it dried up, a common process known as buy and dry. Pueblo West, which was supposed to revegetate with native shortgrass, instead subdivided it into 40-acre parcels. Best States is an interactive platform developed by U.S. News for ranking the 50 U.S. states, alongside news analysis and daily reporting. A combination of chronic water overuse and historic drought conditions are creating chaos. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. Tags: Associated Press, New Mexico, Wyoming, natural disasters, Colorado, Nevada, California, allergies, Arizona, Utah. 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. "It's very early planting," he says. Colorado River expert John Fleck, a professor at the University of New Mexico, wrote that Californias plan gets to roughly the same place as the six-state plan at the most extreme reservoir levels, but the difference is timing waiting until water levels drop further at Lake Meads Hoover Dam. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. California receives the largest allotment, 80% of which is consumed by its $50-billion agricultural industry. He remains unidentified. There is plenty. It will be baled into hay and fed to cattle such as those in the feedlot at the far end of the field. When started, they were hailed as a fast, flexible way of redistributing water on the driest inhabited continent, with little regulation attached. The emergence of open markets could outpace the negotiations. Construction of the original canal was marked by epic engineering failure. In 2006, Pueblo West agreed to irrigate and revive the land. Australia has also seen the advent of a market in complex financial products, such as derivatives, based on water. 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. Whats being done? About 70% is allocated for irrigation, sustaining a $15 billion-a-year agricultural industry that supplies 90% of U.S. winter vegetables. 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.. Know where your water comes from. "Six of the seven basin states are playing catch-up to reduce water use from the Colorado River, which is absolutely critically needed after 20 years of drought and the impacts of climate change," Moran told Reuters. 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. Such an account would effectively leave Colorado buying back its own water or other states potentially buying it on an open market and possibly undermine the states authority to control the river, an erosion of the century-long sway of the compact. 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. The Central Arizona Project, a 336-mile-long water delivery system, brings water from the Colorado River to Arizona's . When the states struck their agreement 100 years ago, it envisaged the river could provide 20 million acre-feet of water a year. U.S. cities that receive river water include Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. 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. Copyright 2022 TheAssociated Press. It took two years to redirect the river back into its original channel. This modeling proposal is a key step in the ongoing dialogue among the Seven Basin States as we continue to seek a collaborative solution to stabilize the Colorado River system, Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said in a statement. The Kremlin is trying to kill Alexei Navalny. As a result, the talks starting in January will be a vehicle for urgent attempts to manage the water, including replenishing downstream reservoirs. 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 has happened in Australia should be a cautionary tale for America, Mr. Kells said. The High Flow Experiment and its gushing water will ultimately decrease Lake Powell levels by 4.5 feet from April 24 to April 27. 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. But despite the dismal forecast for the future of water on the Colorado, some conservationists are hoping to return at least a portion of the delta to its former glory. They would have bought it, turned it, flipped it, and theyd be gone.. The high-tech market there services Denver and other cities, fueling development in some of the fastest-growing housing markets in the country. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Under existing Colorado River agreements, that condition means starting next year, Nevada will have its water allotment cut by 25,000 acre-feet (8 percent). Whether its fallowing fields, upgrading irrigation canals, or modernizing farming methods, Flores said, decisions made now will have lasting consequences.. 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. 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. 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. Mr. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. Article 16, Section 5. The system of tunnels and dams at the New Mexico state line diverts water into the Rio Grande Basin. More frustrating for those trying to solve the Wests dire water problems, if water runs out, because of those generous rights granted a century ago, the metropolises will have to turn off their taps before the old farms. Use less waterevery drop counts! Updated: Apr 26, 2023 / 01:55 PM PDT. Roughly 180,000 people, most of them Mexican-American, live here in towns that include El Centro, Calexico, and Brawley. The bureau forecasts that for the first time, Lake Mead will operate in a Tier 2 shortage condition starting in 2023.
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