2/14/2023 0 Comments James river water levelThe National Water Commission declared an emergency in four northern states in July. It’s a new regime,” said Carlos de la Parra, an urban and environmental studies professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana. “This hit us so fast that it took us a while to understand that it’s not a drought, it’s a new era. They say the country will also have to use its supply more efficiently. Water experts and scientists say Mexico, at the end of the river, will need to find other water for the two northwestern states that depend on it. Now, that supply is more at risk than ever. The Associated Press, The Colorado Sun, The Albuquerque Journal, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Arizona Daily Star and The Nevada Independent are working together to explore the pressures on the river in 2022.īy the time the Colorado River reaches Mexico, just a fraction of its water is left for the fields of the Mexicali Valley and millions of people in northwestern desert cities. ![]() But during the severe dry spell over the past 22 years in the Colorado River Basin, hotter temperatures triggered by accumulating greenhouse gases have intensified the dryness across the watershed.EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a collaborative series on the Colorado River as the 100th anniversary of the historic Colorado River Compact approaches. Most of the river’s flow begins as snow and rainfall in the Rocky Mountains. Some tribes have also agreed to leave a portion of their water supplies in Lake Mead in exchange for compensation. Some previous water-saving arrangements have involved paying growers to temporarily fallow land. “That’s what we’re working towards.”Įxactly how reductions will be achieved has yet to be negotiated. “Let’s get to the table, and let’s figure this out by August,” Touton said. Those projections determine the level of the shortage in 2023 and the severity of the required cuts in deliveries. The timeline that Touton laid out, to come up with an agreement for water reductions within 60 days, puts the deadline just before the Bureau of Reclamation is scheduled to release its mid-August projections for reservoir levels on the river. Lake Mead near Las Vegas has dropped to 28% of its full capacity, while Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border is now just 27% full. The push for a new emergency deal to cope with the Colorado River’s shrinking flow comes just seven months after officials from California, Arizona and Nevada signed an agreement to take significantly less water out of Lake Mead, and six weeks after the federal government announced it is holding back a large quantity of water in Lake Powell to reduce risks of the reservoir dropping to a point where Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate electricity.ĭespite those efforts and a previous deal among the states to share in the shortages, the two reservoirs stand at or near record-low levels. ![]() The needed cuts, she said, amount to between 2 million and 4 million acre-feet next year.įor comparison, California is entitled to 4.4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year, while Arizona’s allotment is 2.8 million. Managers say they plan to let some grass turn brown. Southern California golf courses are being told to cut water use under new drought rules. For Subscribers SoCal’s lush golf courses face new water restrictions.
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