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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
A federal government deadline is looming over seven states that depend on Colorado River water. That deadline arrives on Jan. 31, and if the states haven’t agreed on a plan to save water, feds will dictate a solution for them.
GBWN's…