It seemed inevitable that the dwindling Colorado River would be divvied up by the federal Bureau of Reclamation. On June 14, BuRec gave the seven states in the Colorado River compact just 60 days to find a way to cut their total water usage by up to 4 million acre-feet.[Read More…]
Tag: Colorado River
Colorado River Compact discussed at CLUB-20
One hundred-years after the historic Colorado River Compact allocated 15 million acre feet of water between seven states in the arid west, the situation has grown dire. On June 15, US Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton issued a call to action for all seven states in the 1922 Compact[Read More…]
Ditches are a vanishing paradise
Annette Choszczyk lives in rural western Colorado these days, but when she was a kid, the Highline Canal in Denver was her summer paradise. “To us, it was river and a playground, complete with rope swings, swimming holes, crawdads and a trail alongside it that adults and kids could walk[Read More…]
Rangely hosts Colorado River District event
RBC I A forecast for conditions in the Colorado River Basin, including the White River Area, is not what many who are dependent on and involved with the river hoped for. The Colorado River District hosted a “State of the River” event in partnership with the Rio Blanco Water Conservancy[Read More…]
The Colorado River is sending us a message
RBC I It feels like an apocalypse in the Southwest — wildfires, floods, drought, heat, smoke. This was not the norm when I moved to Colorado 35 years ago. Climate scientists may have predicted the arrival of these extreme events, but many admit their predictions have come true faster than[Read More…]
Who calls the shots on the Colorado River?
RBC | If there’s a dominant force in the Colorado River Basin these days, it’s the Walton Family Foundation, flush with close to $5 billion to give away. Run by the heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton, the foundation donates $25 million a year to nonprofits concerned about the Colorado[Read More…]
Drought moves Colorado toward water speculation
MEEKER | There’s a concept called “demand management” in the news in Colorado, and here’s a simple definition: Landowners get paid to temporarily stop irrigating, and that water gets sent downstream to hang out in Lake Powell. It’s an idea long talked about because of increasing drought and the very[Read More…]
These hay fields know something we don’t; how to save the Colorado River
RBC | Grand County rancher Paul Bruchez stands in a hay field near Kremmling, holding a small tuft of hay between his fingertips, twirling it back and forth, seeing how quickly it disintegrates after a summer without water. The plant, known as timothy, feeds thousands of cattle here in the[Read More…]
Watershed Council and Network lead riverway tour
RBC | An amalgamation of interests and concerns over recent years along the Colorado River from the head of Glenwood Canyon, through the canyon, through the riverside municipalities in Garfield County and on to Debeque in Mesa County has fueled the establishment of the Middle Colorado Watershed Council. Formally since 2013,[Read More…]
Guest Opinion: Fact that Colorado River water reached Gulf of Mexico a good sign
RBC I It’s been nine months since a coalition of scientists, water managers and lawmakers from the U.S. and Mexico opened the Morelos Dam at the Arizona border, releasing a massive, one-time pulse into the parched Colorado River Delta.