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Lawmakers tackle groundwater depletion in conservation bill

GBWNApril 10, 2023

Nevada lawmakers have proposed legislation that would allow the state to buy out water rights and retire them. The program would be administered by the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “This is a good water bill," GBWN's Kyle Roerink…

Great Basin Water News

Why Las Vegas Is a Model for Saving Water

GBWNMarch 2, 2023

In Nevada, Bloomberg's Kal Penn investigates the lasting impacts of the Colorado River Compact, the 1922 agreement that doles out water rights to seven states. The system, over-optimistic from the start, is on the verge of collapse as water levels…

Great Basin Water News

2023 could be ‘session of water bills’ in the Legislature

GBWNMarch 1, 2023

The legislation tackles developing issues across the state: Managing Humboldt River where groundwater pumping is connected to the flows of the river; How to share water in the Lower White River Flow System, a collection of groundwater basins outside of Las…

As the Utah Legislature Winds Down, Nevada’s Heats Up

GBWNFebruary 28, 2023

State legislative sessions are topsy-turvy affairs. There are usually highs and lows –– or, in terms of water, deluge and drought. Spurts of legislative flashpoints interject periods of what may seem like calm. However, in legislative-water parlance, the year 2023…

Great Basin Water News

Upper Basin states want to pause some releases from a major Colorado River reservoir

GBWNFebruary 27, 2023

Four states that use water from the Colorado River are asking the federal government to pause some water releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, which make up the river’s Upper Basin, voted to suspend additional…

Great Basin Water News

SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced a series of new conservation efforts. Here’s how they could help the Great Salt Lake.

GBWNFebruary 22, 2023

Experts and advocates say the moves represent a step in the right direction for Utah’s capital, but it’s going to take more than one community to save the city’s namesake ecological feature. “What we need in communities across the Great…

Great Basin Water News

As the Colorado River shrinks, federal officials consider overhauling Glen Canyon Dam

GBWNFebruary 22, 2023

The Glen Canyon Dam is just 32 feed away from the "minimum power pool" - the point at which it would no longer generate power for the Basin States. As GBWN's Kyle Roerink told the LA Times, “There is now…

Great Basin Water News

For first time, Glen Canyon Dam alternatives addressed by federal government

GBWNFebruary 10, 2023

Alternatives for major modifications to Glen Canyon Dam surfaced Tuesday at a public meeting, the first acknowledgment by the federal government that the dam could require changes. But water conservation advocates say changes to the dam that would delay Lake…

Great Basin Water News

Interior floats engineering fixes for a shriveled Colorado River

GBWNFebruary 9, 2023

The Interior Department privately floated a plan to drill new tunnels through Glen Canyon dam along the Colorado River in a bid to enable water to flow out of the reservoir and maintain hydropower production as a 23-year-long drought pushes…

Great Basin Water News

Despite separate plans for Colorado River cuts, stakeholders continue to talk

GBWNFebruary 8, 2023

One proposal would bring cuts of 2 million acre-feet of water for users pulling from the drought-choked Colorado River system, mostly affecting California, Nevada and Arizona, in an attempt to conserve the region’s most valuable commodity: water. The proposal, GBWN's…

Great Basin Water News

California butts heads with other Colorado River states amid shortage

GBWNFebruary 6, 2023

California released a proposed plan for Colorado River water conservation that directly contradicts a separate plan proposed by the basin’s six other states Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, said he understands California’s position. Remarking on…

Great Basin Water News

Colorado River states fail to strike agreement; feds may step in

GBWNFebruary 6, 2023

Hopes to forge a plan to reduce Colorado River Basin water use by 15% to 25% this year disintegrated this week with dueling proposals that pit California against Arizona and other basin states, including Wyoming. “In both letters, you have…

Great Basin Water News

Will basin states’ plans save operations at Glen Canyon, Hoover dams?

GBWNFebruary 6, 2023

Politics and threatened litigation are replacing what is left of the water in the Colorado River as the seven basin states that rely on the West’s largest river try to reach an agreement to cut flows so power generation can…

Great Basin Water News

States Have Proposals, But No Consensus, On Curbing Water Shortages In Colorado River Basin

GBWNFebruary 3, 2023

Six of the seven states that rely on the Colorado River proposed protecting the system’s major reservoirs with downstream reductions. But California, the biggest user, has its own plan under which it would avoid taking cuts. “Nobody wants to give…

Great Basin Water News

Six out of seven western states agree to Colorado River cuts

GBWNFebruary 3, 2023

Six out of the seven western states that depend on the Colorado River have submitted a plan to cut usage. The proposal from Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming would account for evaporation in the transport of water…

Great Basin Water News

6 Colorado River states submit a plan to cut water use, but California says ‘no deal’

GBWNFebruary 3, 2023

Six of the Colorado River Basin states signed a proposal to cut water use. However, environmental organizations don't believe the the cuts go far enough. “Instead of bending over backwards to prop up Lake Powell, officials should be making plans…

Great Basin Water News

California biggest water user, but won’t sign on to new agreement

GBWNFebruary 3, 2023

Six of the states in the Colorado River Basin have signed a compact to address water on the river. However, California - the biggest water user - was noticeably missing. GBWN's Kyle Roerink criticized the agreement, telling 8NN, "the proposal’s…

Great Basin Water News

California lags as other Colorado River states agree on water cuts

GBWNFebruary 1, 2023

The Colorado River Basin states are negotiating potential cuts to water allocation. GBWN's Kyle Roerink told the Review Journal the lack of mandatory cuts in the upper basin exemplifies the difficulty of the negotiations and signifies the need for more…

Great Basin Water News

Will Reclamation and the States Make the Grade on a CO River Deal?

GBWNFebruary 1, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJANUARY 30, 2023KYLE ROERINK, GREAT BASIN WATER NETWORK, 702-324-9662JOHN WEISHEIT, LIVING RIVERS, 435-260-2590 WILL RECLAMATION AND THE STATES MAKE THE GRADE ON A CO RIVER DEAL One out of nine Americans depends on the Colorado River, meaning that the public…

Analysis Great Basin Water News

Officials Avoid Sacrificing Lake Powell Sacred Cow as Upper Basin Avoids Real Cuts Again

GBWNFebruary 1, 2023

January 31, 2023 For Immediate Release Kyle Roerink, Great Basin Water Network, 702-324-9662 Zach Frankel, Utah Rivers Council, 801-699-1856 Eric Balken, Glen Canyon Institute, 801-631-2774 John Weisheit, Living Rivers, 435-260-2590 OFFICIALS AVOID SACRIFICING LAKE POWELL SACRED COW AS UPPER BASIN AVOIDS REAL CUTS…

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