The previous owner had owned rights to the Chalk River, a tributary of the Arkansas, which irrigated the hayfields using ditches that dated from the Civil War. Mr. Why is the river drying up? The idea is, if you pay the farmers enough, theyll go away, said Brad Udall, a water and climate researcher at Colorado State University whose family have been lawmakers in the region for 60 years. But we will not serve as an emergency reservoir for uncontrollable, unsustainable urban sprawl, Cardenas said. Chaffee County is considered one of the hidden gems of the Rockies, a relatively unspoiled valley with a diverse economy in tourism as well as agriculture. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. He saw a need for drastic conservation efforts to protect reservoirs from overuse and drought worsened by climate change, a situation that if left unchecked could threaten supply from the Hoover Dam to the city of Las Vegas or California. Thats exactly what we were hoping that our use of surface water would allow the aquifer to do, Morris said. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. Today, tribes are at the table and a Mexico delegation is due to attend the conference. Gary Libecap, a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who specializes in water issues, believes that movement of water necessarily generates a public good, whatever form it takes. If we can get water users within places like the San Juan Basin to agree to shortage sharing agreements, then theres no need for strict priority administration, he said. Here water is very scarce, and in periods of shortage traders essentially cheer on the drought, Mr. Kells said. Amid Dire Colorado River Outlook, States Plan to Tap Their Lake Mead At the edges of Lake Mead, the Nation's largest reservoir, a "bathtub ring" of mineral deposits approximately 100 ft. high shows the drop in water level after years of drought along the Colorado River. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. Last month, 30 agencies that supply water to homes and businesses throughout the region joined the Las Vegas area in restricting the planting of decorative lawns that no one walks on. Ron DeSantis, finding no legal basis for allegations that the governor violated campaign finance laws with a shadow run for the White House, North Carolina's attorney general is urging lawmakers to adopt several crime prevention proposals to tackle gun violence, the opioid crisis and the state's backlog of sexual assault cases, The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation says the bodies of seven people have been discovered during the search for two missing teenagers. Investor interest in the river could redefine century-old rules for who controls one of the most valuable economic resources in the United States. Thats not what water is meant to be.. Andrew Leimgruber grows alfalfa and vegetables on his family's farm in the Imperial Valley. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post) For the second time in six months, states that depend on the Colorado River to sustain their farms and cities have failed to reach . According to the site below, 1.. The idea is to kind of mitigate that sand loss, and keep things close to the way they were before the dam, said Bob Tusso, a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist. It lies below sea level, allowing water from the Colorado River to flow there by gravity alone. Five things you can do for the Colorado River: 1. Drafted in 1922, it allocates the rivers annual flow, dividing the water among seven states desperate for their share. Beef cattle are the top agricultural product of Imperial County. In 1922, a landmark agreement called the Colorado River Compact divided the river among two groups of states: the upper basin and the lower basin. Agriculture all over the West required the development of irrigation infrastructure, such as dams and ditches, Mr. Libecap said. The Western model is a sort of comprehensive, consensus-based public discussion, and its worked very well, said Bruce Babbitt, a former governor of Arizona and secretary of the interior during the Clinton administration. Victoria must navigate love and loss while her home town drowns under the rising waters of the Gunnison River. Why do we need to take additional actions now when there was so much water through all these recent storms?. Dec. 13, 2022, at 6:19 a.m. Colorado River Water Users Convening Amid Crisis Concerns. Plus, A Surprising Number Of Food And Beverage Classes In Boulder County. Among conference topic titles are Messaging in a More Water-Challenged world and The Next 100 Years Begins Now.. Obviously, its not going swimmingly, said Jeffrey Kightlinger, the former general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a water provider that is a major player in the talks. An earlier version of this story stated that the Imperial Irrigation District's allotment of Colorado River water is enough to cover all of its irrigated land with 5 inches of water. Australia has also seen the advent of a market in complex financial products, such as derivatives, based on water. Their legal rights won't do much good if there's no more water arriving from Lake Mead. The gruesome discoveries renewed interest in the lore of organized crime and the early days of the Las Vegas Strip, just a 30-minute drive from the lake. as temperatures rise, mountain snows melt faster in spring, and the state lacks capacity to store the runoff. Hay, corn, wheat, sorghum, and millet are the top five. The proposal by the six states Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming aims to protect the major reservoirs in Lake Powell and Lake Mead from falling below critical levels, such as when the dams would no longer be able to generate electricity or at dead pool, when water would effectively be blocked from flowing out of these lakes. Interior officials did not issue any mandatory water cuts for New Mexico. An engineering marvel from the heyday of federal water construction, the project is a vast network or reservoirs filled by a tunnel that pipes water from the Colorado River 13 miles under the Continental Divide. Florida Keys Electric Cooperative. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. The Colorado River Water Users Association conference, normally a largely academic three-day affair, comes at a time of growing concern about the river's future after more than two decades of record drought attributed to climate change. Californias agricultural water markets a mosaic of online exchanges connecting farmers and water brokers are considered a potential model for the West: fast, flexible and responsive to extreme weather. Water Law in Colorado Sept. 14, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico. Mr. Catlin, the state representative, said: We need to think about the true value of water. Felt said. To proponents of open markets, water is underpriced and consequently overused. States that receive more rainfall and precipitation logically have lower water usage. The giant reservoirs of Lake Mead and Lake Powell are shrinking fast, and the federal government is calling on all users of the river's water, which include farmers and cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, to come up with a plan to cut their water use. The current canal, built during the New Deal and called the All-American Canal, delivers enough water to the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) each year to cover all of its irrigated land almost 800 square miles with 5 feet of water. Selling the rights to a Rocky Mountain trout stream or a hayfield dating from the pioneer era to nonlocal interests, especially those seeking to turn a profit, has the potential to be seen as auctioning state patrimony. Steve Benson, managing partner of Benson Farms, points out a neighbor's field where a crew is planting lettuce. My fear is that the speculators are going to break it. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Today, the river provides water to 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farmland not just in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California but also to 29 Native American tribes and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. There is plenty. In Colorado, which is both an agricultural state and an outdoor recreation magnet, water is not just critical to the economy but an emotional part of the states identity and a political third rail. It certainly seems that we have to reset our expectations for what we might be trying to get out of the river, said Lpez, a former Reclamation commissioner. Touton and two top Interior Department officials are scheduled to address the conference on Friday. Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus this week for a conference in Las Vegas about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River, Colorado River Water Users Convening Amid Crisis Concerns, FILE - A buoy sits high and dry on cracked earth previously under the waters of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Boulder City, Nev., on June 28, 2022. "The droughts that we are seeing are becoming that much more severe because of the temperature component, they're warmer," Bolinger said. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton this year tasked Colorado River states with creating an ambitious conservation plan. From 2005 to 2010, California consistently used more water than any other state, followed by Texas, Idaho, Florida, and Colorado. Her life changes forever when she meets Wilson Moon, a young drifter, displaced from his tribal land in the Four Corners region. California on Tuesday submitted its own proposal for how reductions should play out in coming years, depending on the elevation in Lake Mead. He also pointed out that unlike the private investors who quietly, quickly and pseudonymously bought up valuable property in the Wests notorious land grabs like the acquisition of the Owens River rights by the City of Los Angeles WAM has purchased water rights in its own name. EL CENTRO, Calif. A few hundred farms in the southern tip of California, along the Mexican border, may hold the key to saving the drought-plagued Colorado River from collapse. Use less waterevery drop counts! The compact contains a fail-safe mechanism if the river runs too low. Increasing Pressures on Colorado River Water in New Mexico - US News Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District, is skeptical. New Mexico still uses only about half of its allotment under the compact each year. All rights reserved. According to water-policy professionals I spoke to, investors are already lobbying for it. "Something will have to give," said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona's Water Resources Research Center. In September, Nasdaq and CME Group, the worlds largest derivatives marketplace, announced plans to open a futures market for California water, joining it with commodities like Brent crude oil and soybeans.
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