Selling the rights to a Rocky Mountain trout stream or a hayfield dating from the pioneer era to nonlocal interests, especially those seeking to turn a profit, has the potential to be seen as auctioning state patrimony. States that receive more rainfall and precipitation logically have lower water usage. "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. Just kind of a nightmare, Mr. Lake Mead: Feds will release more Colorado River water downstream after Key Colorado River reservoirs unlikely to refill in our lifetimes - Los 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. Kightlinger, along with many other water experts and officials, says cuts of this magnitude and severity have to be shared, rather than doled out according to seniority. In the winter, 90% of vegetables consumed in both the US and Canada are grown with Colorado River water. Running southwest from the Rocky Mountains to Mexicos Gulf of California, the river runs through seven states in the American West. Wall Street Eyes Billions in the Colorado's Water Editing by Nick Macfie, Trump accuser defends rape claim after judge rejects Trump's mistrial request, Biden calls for meeting as US to run short of cash June 1, Biden urges Republicans take debt default off table, warns interest rates would jump, American Airlines pilots authorize a strike mandate, Donald Trump arrives in Scotland for short golfing trip, UK inflation expectations ease as BoE considers next rate hike, ACLU sues Montana House Speaker for silencing transgender legislator, Kuwait again dissolves reinstated parliament by decree, Bolsonaro steals show at Brazil's biggest farm fair. Investor interest in the river could redefine century-old rules for who controls one of the most valuable economic resources in the United States. In the last few years, Colorado has been debating a water policy approach that has further piqued the interest of private investors: paying farmers not to use the river at all. Farmers, however, would almost certainly challenge such an order in court. 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. 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). The Imperial Valley, by contrast, has only one source of water: the Colorado River, 80 miles to the east. LCRA provides public power, manages the lower Colorado River, builds and operates transmission lines, owns public parks, and offers community services. 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. Plus, A Surprising Number Of Food And Beverage Classes In Boulder County. 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. The whole history of the American West is about moving water, Mr. Gammage of Greenstone said. The other half is mile after mile of green fields lined by irrigation canals. The New Deal brings Colorado River water to a desert. Clay Electric Cooperative. 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. Ultimately, we argued against it, he said. Farmland meets the desert, separated by an irrigation canal, near Fruita, Colo.CreditNick Cote for The New York Times. Meanwhile, bodies have surfaced as Lake Mead's shoreline recedes, including the corpse of a man who authorities say was shot, maybe in the 1970s, and stuffed in a barrel. Today, they are at 26%. Her life changes forever when she meets Wilson Moon, a young drifter, displaced from his tribal land in the Four Corners region. Theyre going to make big bucks off the water, and whos going to suffer? she said. They require an estimated 2,126 and 1,226 gallons of water respectively to produce a pound of food. The Upper Basin plan hinges on existing conservation programs. Since 2008, aquifer levels underneath the city have rebounded as much as 40 feet. As a result, water has turned into a financialized product like what happened to energy in the late 1990s, he said. Steve Benson returned to the family business, Benson Farms in Brawley, Calif., after a career in engineering and real estate. U.S. cities that receive river water include Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. Farmers also could reduce the amount of land planted in crops, especially alfalfa and grasses, which get baled into hay to feed cattle or horses. In Colorado, when we look up at the rocky mountains, its difficult to imagine how much those snowy white peaks mean to the rest of the world. Updated: Apr 26, 2023 / 01:55 PM PDT. Subsequently, the governments antitrust department started an inquiry. Close to 40 million people use water from the Colorado River. Agriculture all over the West required the development of irrigation infrastructure, such as dams and ditches, Mr. Libecap said. That would be a disaster. Stay informed daily on the latest news and advice on COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report. Today, tribes are at the table and a Mexico delegation is due to attend the conference. Lake Mead to rise one foot by Sunday after federal 'high flow' water 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. Drafted in 1922, it allocates the rivers annual flow, dividing the water among seven states desperate for their share. 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. 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. Colorado is next (3.8 million acre-feet), followed by Arizona (2.8 million acre-feet), Utah (1.7 million acre-feet), Wyoming (1.04 million acre-feet), New Mexico (0.84 million acre-feet) and Nevada (0.30 million acre-feet). Arizona faces steeper cuts at 592,000 acre-feet (21 percent) of its . "On the one hand, you have the most disadvantaged community, but in the same community you have some of the richest farmers!" Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Imperial Valley farmers like Andrew Leimgruber, for their part, argue that they have a legal right to all of this water. Demand for Colorado River water picked up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Geography was the key. 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. According to the site below, 1.. Why do we need to take additional actions now when there was so much water through all these recent storms?. It will be baled into hay and fed to cattle such as those in the feedlot at the far end of the field. List of United States electric companies - Wikipedia She is the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Copyright 2023 KVVU. A few of the fields are shrouded by showers of water delivered from long lines of sprinklers. Alex Cardenas, the president of the board of directors of the Imperial Irrigation District, noted that the water rights among the farmers in his area of California near the border with Mexico predate the formation of the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the river system. 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 market in the Colorado-Big Thompson Project is also nimble and responsive. 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 . 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. The water tower in El Centro, the county seat of Imperial County, notes a geographic fact that shapes this area's destiny. The system worked as long as there was enough to go around, said Mr. Libecap, who recently advised the State of Colorado on its growing water problems. The best states in the U.S. come from coast to coast. Florida Municipal Power Agency. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. What is the Colorado River? And now, water officials are grappling with how to make do with less. 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. In the winter, 90% of vegetables consumed in both the US and Canada are grown with Colorado River water. 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. The Colorado River Water Users Association conference, normally a largely academic three-day affair, comes at a time of growing concern about the river's future after more than two decades of record drought attributed to climate change. Another dry year has left the watershed that supplies 40 million people in the Southwest parched. Reclamation water managers responded with plans to hold back more water in Lake Powell but warned that Lake Mead water levels would drop. Before above-average snows in recent weeks, the Bureau of Reclamation was projecting that Lake Powell could start to reach such thresholds by this summer. The dry period has lasted more than two decades, draining the major reservoirs along the river. Imperial County is already one of the poorest in California. Researchers at the New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, N.M., works with . Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. Feds Will Cut States' Access to Colorado River Water By the summer, the process is expected to clarify the federal governments legal authority to make unilateral cuts to states water allotments. Youve got two drivers exacerbating the problem. And it had to be a pretty good process, because it lasted 100 years.. An earlier version of this story stated that the Imperial Irrigation District's allotment of Colorado River water is enough to cover all of its irrigated land with 5 inches of water. His great-grandfather came to the valley from Sweden in the 1920s. In exchange, San Diego pays the irrigation district more than $100 million each year. Farmland meets the desert, separated by an irrigation canal, near Fruita, Colo. The Colorado River is tapped out. It may feel like California is flush with water at the moment, after a winter of historic storms that replenished drought-starved lakes and left the . Farmers could buy new, more water-efficient irrigation equipment. From 2005 to 2010, California consistently used more water than any other state, followed by Texas, Idaho, Florida, and Colorado. The negotiating states will be focused on restoring the flow of the Colorado River, which has been so diminished by use that from 1998 to 2014 it did not even reach its natural terminus in the Gulf of California. A Farmer, A Chef, An Advocate And A Pie Guy Discuss Local Food Systems. BruMate, which was founded in 2015 by now 25-year-old Dylan Jacob and featured in Forbes magazine recently, sells insulated can coolers, tumblers and drinkware. 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. A more arid climate means all water users need to work harder to live within our means, said Estevan Lpez, New Mexicos representative on the Upper Colorado River Commission. Those who grow alfalfa in Southern Californias Imperial and Coachella valleys would keep their water before people in parts of Los Angeles. 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.. Is that something that can change? Lake Powell in Big Water, Utah. If you're reading this, the chances are that some (or all!) That just simply cant be reality, he said. Reclamation is in the process of an environmental review of how to operate Glen Canyon and Hoover dams at low-water scenarios. 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. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. 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. This allowed water to flow through the canal powered solely by gravity. 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. 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. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. The system of tunnels and dams at the New Mexico state line diverts water into the Rio Grande Basin. It is just in the wrong places. 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. The situation has been compared to the energy markets of the late 1990s, in which firms like Enron made money from shortages (some of which, it turned out, traders engineered themselves). Investors and the environment may benefit, but water will almost certainly be more expensive. 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. Private investors would like to bring in or amplify existing elements of Wall Street for the water industry, such as futures markets and trading that occurs in milliseconds. Dan Charles for NPR Dan Charles for NPR Steve Benson returned to the family business, Benson Farms in Brawley, Calif., after a career in engineering and real estate. (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. Were not going to wreck our local economy so that they can continue to grow their urban economy.. The Colorado River basin has experienced three D4 droughts in the past 20 years, including the current one. Clewiston Utilities. We recognize that over the past twenty-plus years there is simply far less water flowing into the Colorado River system than the amount that leaves it, and that we have effectively run out of storage to deplete, the states wrote. Sprinklers deliver vital Colorado River water to a field of celery in California's Imperial Valley. By the end of May, Lake Mead will reach 1,051 feet. A combination of chronic water overuse and historic drought conditions are creating chaos. We let anyone come play.. But that flow of water is now in question, because the Colorado River doesn't have enough water for everyone. 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. Despite deadlines, discussions have not resulted in agreements. New York investors snapping up Colorado River water rights - Reddit The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. 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. 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. The Best Whitewater Rafting in Colorado - US News & World Report A field of alfalfa, freshly cut, dries in the sun. 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. At which point, if private entities like WAM had stores of water in Lake Powell ready to sell, they would suddenly be worth quite a bit more. Colorado River Water Users Convening Amid Crisis Concerns - US News Beef cattle are the top agricultural product of Imperial County. Exclusive news, data and analytics for financial market professionals, Reporting by Liliana Salgado and Temis Tormo; Writing by Clarence Fernandez; What has happened in Australia should be a cautionary tale for America, Mr. Kells said. 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. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. The proponents of water markets say they are not in it just for the money. Roughly 180,000 people, most of them Mexican-American, live here in towns that include El Centro, Calexico, and Brawley. The Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 just 10 years after New Mexico became a state. "They have the most water, and in some senses the most power," she says. But on top of that, theres a problem with the rules, Cohen said. Lake Powell's drop last March to historically low water levels raised worries about losing the ability perhaps within the next few months to produce hydropower that today serves about 5 million customers in seven states. 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. Florida Public Utilities, a part of Chesapeake Utilities. Although California was deluged for weeks from late in December by seven atmospheric rivers that dumped up to 30 inches (76 cm) of rain over some areas, little of that reached the Colorado River basin. 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. In fact, it's 5 feet. 24, 2023 at 11:45 PM PDT. Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. Amid Dire Colorado River Outlook, States Plan to Tap Their Lake Mead 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. Im optimistic that were going to sort through some of these more sticky problems with a good collaborative solution, Hamman said. The amount of water being used far exceeds whats actually available. 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 . Sprinklers deliver vital Colorado River water to a field of celery in California's Imperial Valley. Built in the 1980s, Pueblo West was growing too fast to keep up with its water needs, so it bought the ranch and its rights. 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. As Colorados water commissioner, he piloted a demand-management program and was known for crisscrossing Colorados back roads to convince skeptical farmers of the benefits of the approach. 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. Cities use roughly 20% of the Colorado River's water, while agriculture uses approximately 80%. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. Water Consumption Work at EROS Important Asset to Colorado River - USGS Its quite possible that there just wont be as much San Juan-Chama water available in the future because of drought and climate change.. The entire series, including Afterhours at the Radio Bookclub, is available as a podcast. Lurking in those details, though, is a bigger and more worrisome question. That lettuce will be in grocery stores by mid-November. Mr. Eklund secured an account in Lake Powell. 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. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs. Officials fear complete doomsday scenario for drought-stricken Colorado River. California receives the most Colorado River water at 4.4 million acre-feet. Often, the best land in the West is not along rivers, so you needed to move water..
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