Feb 13, 2023:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3856427-hickenlooper-rallies-senators-to-help-accelerate-colorado-river-compromise
Feb 8, 2023:
https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/3848012-california-plays-hardball-with-colorado-river-states-over-cutbacks
Oct 6, 2022:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3677268-california-offers-to-cut-back-lake-mead-water-use-amid-drought
Aug 16, 2022:
The U.S Bureau of Reclamation announced Colorado River water allocation cuts to Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico.
Effective January 1, 2023 annual water allotments will be reduced about 21% in Arizona, 8% in Nevada, and about 7% in Mexico.
No changes were announced for allotments in California, New Mexico, Utah, or Wyoming.
According to Bureau of Reclamation officials, the water reductions are necessary because projections show that Lake Mead will be at a "Level 2a Shortage Condition" by January 1, 2023.
Source:
(August 16, 2022). "Interior Department Announces Actions to Protect Colorado River System, Sets 2023 Operating Conditions for Lake Powell and Lake Mead". doi.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-17
Feds cut Colorado River allocation to Arizona, Nevada as talks fail | The Hill
Arizona must cut 21% of its Colorado River water use, feds say | NBC/12News/Phoenix"
Feds cut Colorado River water allocations. What does it mean for Nevada? | The Nevada Independent"
Jun 14, 2022:
In a Senate Hearing on Western Drought Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton said that states in the Colorado River Basin have 60 days to create an emergency plan to stop using between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water in the next year or the Bureau will use its emergency authority to make the cuts itself.
Source:
Sakas, Michael Elizabeth. (June 17, 2022). "Colorado River states need to drastically cut down their water usage ASAP, or the federal government will step in". CPR. Retrieved 2022-08-17
May 3, 2022:
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced emergency plans to retain over 480,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Powell in order to support hydro-power production.
Water levels in Lake Powell are the lowest on record.
Source:
Sakas, Michael Elizabeth. (May 3, 2022). "The federal government will make the unprecedented move to hold back water in drought-stricken Lake Powell". CPR. Retrieved 2022-08-17
Dec 15, 2021:
At the Colorado River Water Users Association annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, members from Arizona, Nevada, and California signed an agreement to voluntarily reduce the amount of water they take from the Colorado River.
The agreement, dubbed the "500+ Plan," requires the three states to cut 500,000 acre-feet of their water take in both 2022 and 2023. It also requires Arizona to invest $40 million, and an investment of $20 million each by Nevada, California, and the Central Arizona Project. The federal government would match the funding, for a total of $200 million.
Source:
Peterson, Brittany; Fonseca, Felicia. (Dec 15, 2021). "States volunteer to take more cuts in Colorado River water". Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-08-17
Mar 19, 2019:
Governor's representatives of the seven Colorado River Basin States (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and key water districts formally submitted Drought Contingency Plans to the U.S. Congress.
Source:
Fonseca, Felicia. (March 19, 2019). "US official declares drought plan done for Colorado River". Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-08-17
More:
- How Arizona, California and other states are trying to generate a whole new water supply | The Hill
- Five reasons extreme weather is bigger in Texas | The Hill
- DRIED UP: Texas cities in fear of running out of water | The Hill
- Why Great Plains agriculture is particularly vulnerable to drought | The Hill
- DRIED UP: Texas cattle industry faces existential crisis from historic drought | The Hill
- DRIED UP: Lakes Mead and Powell are at the epicenter of the biggest Western drought in history | The Hill
- Seven stats that explain the West’s epic drought | The Hill
- First water cuts in US West supply to hammer Arizona farmers | Associated Press
- West's megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years | PBS
- Colorado River deemed 'most endangered river' in the US: report | The Hill
- New study finds extreme, severe drought impacting the upper Colorado River basin in the second century | usbr.gov
- Beyond the Mirage - the Future of Water in the West | Health and Wellness Resource
- Water Resource | Lake Mead | Nevada | Health and Wellness Resource