Bureau of Reclamation declares a shortage in the # ColoradoRiver Basin for the first time, resulting in water savings – The #ColoradoSprings Gazette #COriver #aridification
On Monday, the office announced the first shortage in the Colorado River basin, meaning water supplies for three states (Arizona, Nevada, and California) and Mexico will be restricted from January 2022 and will last year-round.
The plains on Lake Mead have flirted with this 1,075 foot level since 2014.
According to the Bureau of Reclamation, both Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest reservoirs on the Colorado River, have been overexploited for years. So far, the imbalance has been overcome and the requirements due to “the substantial storage capacity of reservoirs in the Colorado River system” have been met. These include the dozen of Colorado reservoirs that flow into the Colorado River.
Water from Colorado, which begins in Rocky Mountain National Park, is divided between seven states and Mexico and governed by a 1922 treaty that divides the states into Upper Basin and Lower Basin regions. The states of the upper basin are Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and for these states in Lake Powell the water is “flooded”.
 100vw, 700px” data-lazy-src = “https://i0.wp.com/coyotegulch.blog / wp-content / uploads / 2020/07 / Delph-Carpenters -original-map-compact-negotiations-via-Greg-Hobbs-historic-map-collection.jpg? resize = 700% 2C574 & is-pending-load = 1 # 038; ssl = 1 “srcset =” https: // coyotegulch. blog / data: image / gif; base64, https: //coyotegulch.blog/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 “/> Delph Carpenter’s original map with a reservoir in Glen via Greg Hobbs</p>
<p>The states of the lower basin – Arizona, Nevada, and California – rely on the river’s water when it reaches Lake Mead and the hydropower generated by the Hoover Dam …</p>
<p>The lower basin states will feel the first effects of Monday’s announcement made by the office. Arizona is projected to lose 18% of its Colorado stake, or 512,000 acre-feet of water. According to the Associated Press, that’s about 8% of the state’s total water use …</p>
<p>Nevada will lose about 7% of its allotment, or 21,000 acre-feet of water. But it won’t feel the shortage due to conservation efforts and alternative water sources, the AP reported on Monday.</p>
<p>California has more water rights than either state, so its allocation will be spared, at least for the time being. Mexico will lose 80,000 acre-feet, about 5% of its allocation from the Colorado.</p>
<p>In a statement Monday, office officials said the Upper Basin experienced an exceptionally dry spring in 2021, with runoff into Lake Powell being only 26% of the average from April to July, despite almost average snowfall last winter. The total storage capacity of the Colorado River system is 40% of its capacity today, up from 49% at that time last year, the office said …</p>
<p>… 22 years of drought along the Colorado River have opened up other reservoirs, not just Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Last month the office announced it would be drawing water from two reservoirs in Colorado and one in Utah to keep Lake Powell, which includes Glen Canyon Dam, and its hydroelectric power to Nevada going.</p>
<p>The office plans to prime 36,000 acre-feet from Gunnison County’s Blue Mesa Reservoir by August. It will draw 20,000 acre feet from the Navajo Reservoir on the Colorado-New Mexico border in southwest Colorado. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah will reach 125,000 acre-feet later this year.</p>
<p>All of that water will raise Lake Powell’s level by 3 feet.</p>
<p>According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the elevation of Lake Mead on Monday was 1,067.8 feet (35% of capacity). Lake Mead fell below 1,071.6 feet on June 8, the lowest elevation since the lake was first replenished in the late 1930s …</p>
<p>However, the entire Colorado River basin is in trouble, according to a May draft report on reservoir operations by the Bureau of Reclamation.</p>
<p>At the beginning of the 2021 water year (October 1, 2020), the total system memory of the Colorado River was 48% of capacity, the bureau’s draft report said. As of September 30th, total system memory is expected to be 41% of capacity.</p>
<p>Taylor Hawes, Colorado River program director for The Nature Conservancy, said in a statement Monday that the explanation of Tier 1 deficiency came as no surprise.</p>
<p>“The Colorado River has seen steady decline in rivers since 2000, affecting communities, agriculture, industry and the health of our rivers in the area. Even as flows have declined, our declines in demand have not kept pace, ”said Hawes.</p>
<p>“The Colorado River can be a model of resilience and sustainability, but not without a concerted and significant effort by stakeholders in the region.”</p>
<p>Becky Mitchell is the director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board and Colorado’s commission for the states of the Upper Basin. She told Colorado Politics in a statement that “Colorado and the other Upper Basin states understand the risks and vulnerabilities we face in the Colorado River system due to severe drought and a potentially hotter and drier future.”</p>
<p>[…]</p>
<p>Also on Monday, governors of 10 western states, including Colorado, sent a request to the Biden government to issue a drought disaster statement for the 10 states that would allow the states to use resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.</p>
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