[ Boulder County ]

• Boulder County Commissioners vote to approve a ten-year extension on an open space tax. This has upset many farmers and ranchers, who are dissatisfied with this decision because there is no language to protect them from the tax extension. This could lead to driving agriculture out of Boulder County..
• Erie Town Council has approved the Erie Town Center Urban Renewal Plan, which will facilitate funding the development of the  20-acre Town-owned property at the northwest corner of Erie Parkway and E. County Line Rd. in Erie Town Center.
• Daniel Bench, 88, was killed while riding his bike on August 4th. His death is the first cyclist death in 2025. According to data provided by the city, the number of severe crashes involving bicycles has remained unchanged since the 2014 Vision Zero bill, which aimed to decrease incidents by 2030.
• The City of Boulder has hired a new Transportation and Mobility Director, Blyth Bailey. Bailey is a trained architect who has previously led the first Department of Transportation in Chattanooga, TN, as well as worked to develop parks. His integration comes during the City of Boulder’s hiring freeze

[ State]

• The City of Denver has cut of Loveland’s access to the FLOCK automatic license-plate reading software after it was revealed that Loveland was sharing the data with Border Patrol.
• The bunnies are growing horns. Rabbits around northern Colorado are developing black horn-like growths around their heads and faces. This is a form of cottontail rabbit papillomavirus. This is not a dangerous disease, nor is it spread to humans or domestic pets.
• With the continued drought and overuse of water, federal officials announced that in 2026, Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico will all receive less water from Colorado. This will be an 18% decrease for Arizona, 7% for Nevada, and 5% for Mexico. There will not be a decrease for California.
• The Lee Fire, burning in Rio Blanco County, is currently the fifth most extensive fire in  Colorado’s recorded history. At 137,485 acres burned, it is 300 acres behind the 2002 Hayman Fire

[ National ]

• Under an executive order, the National Guard has been deployed in Washington D.C. to increase policing and “decrease crime.” Initially, it was stated that the National Guard would not be armed; however, Army Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper said that “Guard members may be armed consistent with their mission and training.”
• Donald Trump flew to Alaska to meet with Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, to push for a ceasefire in the genocide in Ukraine. However, upon the meeting’s end, Trump had changed his mind, stating a ceasefire was no longer critical.
• Stephen Colbert announced that after ten years, Paramount has decided to cancel his show, The Late Show. While Paramount reports this was purely a financial decision, it came days after Colbert criticized the $16 million settlement between CBS and the White House over a possibly edited interview with Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes.
• The state department has halted all visas for people coming from Gaza. In the statement, it was explained that there needed to be “a full and thorough review of the process and procedures” used for granting medical humanitarian visas.

[ International ]

• Hamas has informed mediators that it has approved the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal and is ready to resume negotiations to discuss ending the conflict with Israel and Gaza, which has now killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, with looming threats of famine and starvation.
• Following the US-South Korea military exercises, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced that North Korea will be building up its nuclear armament, seeing the exercises as “an obvious expression of their will to provoke war.
• Nearly 2,000 service members have been deployed to fight the wildfire burning in Spain and Portugal. The fire has covered 579 square miles and continues to burn while southern Europe experiences a severe heatwave.

Quotes

“So stick to the streets if we want to commute efficiently. Got it.” 

– Louisville resident Joe Walsh, after the announcement that speed limits on bike paths would be limited to 15 mph. This is after many bike paths were paved for easier bike commuting.

“Vladimir Putin said something — one of the most interesting things — he said, ‘your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting,’ He said, ‘it’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.”

– Donald Trump explaining his inspiration for trying to rid our country of mail-in voting, a tool that helps the lower and working class ensure their ability to vote.

“I am not going anywhere.”

– University of Colorado Board of Regents member, Wanda James, after her peers attempted to censure her after an investigation into her opposition to the CU-backed marijuana education campaign

“The robots are still really dumb.”

– Dr Allan Fern, robotics professor, regarding the first-ever robot humanoid games held in China.

By the Numbers

274

The number of lives lost in Buner, Pakistan, after torrential rains and flooding, with no evacuation notice from the government.

1:8 Million

The ratio of neurosurgeons to citizens in Sierra Leon. Earlier this year, Dr. Alieu Kamara became the first and only practicing neurosurgeon in his country.

500,000

The approximate number of travelers who have been stranded during the Air Canada cabin-worker strikes.

39,448

A record-setting number of students are attending CU Boulder for the 2025 Fall semester.

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Democracy needs journalism more than ever. We’ve been telling the truth for 24 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four years.

The post Month In Review | August 2025 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Two Denver-area artists with deep relationships to the Colorado River Basin come together this summer at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art for a lively meditation on our environmental past and future. “Tracking Time,” by Chelsea Kaiah (@chelsea.kaiah) and Noelle Phares, presents several dozen newly commissioned works of contemporary art based on science as well as Indigenous ways.

For millions of years, the Colorado River has carved spectacular scenery and thrilling rapids through what is now the American Southwest and northern Mexico. Today, from its source in northern Colorado near Granby, it passes through seven states and 11 US National Parks, providing water for tens of millions of people.

“Tracking Time” started taking shape back when Pamela Meadows was BMOCA’s curator. When Jane Burke took the reins, she recognized an opportunity “to broaden the conversation about water scarcity and other environmental issues” based on multiple artists’ personal experiences and their ideas on how humanity’s relationship with nature can improve.

Valentino James’s GPS Map of Book Cliff Hunting Area

The word “tracking” in the exhibit’s title, Burke explained, derived from the idea of making art related to current technology and science. Phares’s use of landscape and poetry offers a form of “data mapping, in that she’s translating data through these depictions,” Burke said. Phares holds a degree in environmental science and consulted with her sister, hydrologist Dr. Natalie Collar, in preparing for the show. Analogously, Kaiah’s art, which is based in part on her father Valentino James’s GPS cartography for the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, offers what Burke described as a “contemporary approach to ancestral traditions of Native skillwork, couching her story in the present moment” by incorporating manufactured materials such as video, plastic tarps, and Mylar.

Several of Kaiah’s pieces use the skins of animals she hunted herself. Kaiah, who is Ute,Apache, and Irish, has practiced the respectful and sustainable hunting methods of the Apache people since childhood. Her family hunts in Utah along the Green River, a tributary of the Colorado River.

In addition to Native materials and practices such as beading and leatherwork, Kaiah brings traditional concepts into her art practice. Kaiah prioritizes recycled and reused elements and other sustainable materials, and she honors as art what some might dismiss as “craft.” Kaiah explained that she describes Native practices as “skillwork” to “emphasize the amount of labor, time, and energy that goes into creating a masterful piece. You can’t just pick it up and be fantastic at it.”

Kaiah’s art also works with gender. Recently, she exhibited a series of drums she made that cannot be played, in acknowledgment of her own interest and curiosity but also her people’s prohibition on women drumming. In several pieces for “Tracking Time,” Kaiah evokes the fluid gender identities of her tribes’ Two Spirit people, blending the conventionally male role of hunting with the traditionally female roles of curing hides and processing hunted animals for food and other uses.

Phares’s relationship with the Colorado River Basin began on the water itself during a three-week rafting trip through the Grand Canyon several years ago. Last fall, she returned to the river to conduct the research behind her dozens of paintings in “Tracking Time.” Departing from her 14-month-old daughter and her busy Lakewood studio, which sells 10,000 prints of her work annually, Phares spent almost two weeks and drove 2,500 miles in her camper van to gather photographs and make sketches.

Phares’s paintings often contain a critical element, such as the faint outline of a building that might be built in a pristine natural area unless it is protected, but mainly she uses beauty to inspire and “lets the landscape take the lead.” “I’ll symbolize these things that are happening,” Phares said, “but I also am trying to make it visually appealing, because that’s what makes me want to spend time with it. And I think that’s what makes people want to look at it.”

Phares’ painting of the Grand Canyon

“As a landscape artist,” Phares said, “my relationship with the land is the starting point.” In addition to studying the land, Phares observed how the river gives meaning and wonder to its many visitors: “I wanted people who also had their own relationship with the places I was painting to be able to at least see a shadow of those places in the paintings. It was important to me to look at the other viewers at those landmarks and just watch how their faces changed, overwhelmed with the magnitude of it. I wanted people to get a sense of that feeling that might remind them of their own relationship with that place.”

Tracking Time (Exhibit runs May 23 – September 2)
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
1750 13th St., Boulder, CO 80302

The post BMOCA’s Tracking Time: The Colorado River and Us appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Alex Hager – KUNC , (Via AP Storyshare)

Good news on the Colorado River is rare. Its reservoirs, the two largest in the country, have shrunk to record lows. The policymakers who will decide its future are stuck at an impasse. Climate change has driven more than two decades of megadrought and strained the water supply for 40 million people across the Southwest.

But a new study is delivering a potential dose of optimism for the next 25 years of the Colorado River. The findings, published in the Journal of Climate, forecast a 70% chance the next quarter century will be wetter than the last.

Projections for Colorado River water supply have largely focused on the impact of temperature. Climate change means the region is getting hotter, which in turn drives a raft of environmental factors that mean less water ends up in rivers and reservoirs. For example, snow melts quicker and is more likely to evaporate. Dry, thirsty soil soaks up snow melt before it has a chance to flow into the nearest stream.

This new study, though, takes a closer look at the impact of precipitation.

Eighty five percent of the Colorado River starts as snow in the region’s headwaters – the high-altitude mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. The scientists behind the new paper predict an increase in precipitation over the next 25 years that could be big enough to offset the drying caused by rising temperatures, at least in the short term.

Researchers with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder used data from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, to run forecasting models and form their conclusions.

Those scientists stressed the importance of variability in their findings. While the high end of their forecasts paint a positive picture, their models also showed a small chance that precipitation could go down in the next two decades. There’s a 4% chance that river flows could drop by 20% in the next 25 years.

“All of our thinking, our acting, our management should be humble and recognize the nature in which we live, which is, yeah, you have water, but it is very highly variable,” Balaji Rajagopalan, a water engineering professor who co-authored the study, said.

Good science about the region’s climate future is particularly important right now, as Colorado River policy makers renegotiate the rules for sharing its water. The region’s water crisis is driven by two big themes – climate change is shrinking supply, and the people in charge have struggled to rein in demand in response.

Right now, they’re hashing out a new set of rules for managing the river to replace the guidelines that expire in 2026. Rajagopalan said the findings from the new study underscore the need to build flexible rules that can adapt along with climate conditions.

“We want to emphasize that it’s not like, ‘Oh, there’s going to be water around, so let’s go party – we don’t have to do the hard work that needs to be done in terms of conservation and thoughtful management,’” he said. “If anything, it speaks to even more reason that you have to.”

Another climate scientist, Brad Udall, who was not involved in the study, cast a bit of skepticism on its findings and message. Udall, a climate researcher at Colorado State University’s Colorado Water Institute, said he holds the paper’s authors in high regard, but some aspects of the study’s approach gave him some “unease.”

“We just can’t rely on these models for precipitation,” he said. “We can rely on them for temperature, but we can’t rely on them for precipitation. There are just too many issues with them.”

He said climate models can’t always dependably predict precipitation because they are based on statistics, as opposed to the physics-based methods used to build long-term temperature forecasts.

Udall, who has referred to himself as “the skunk in the room” after years of sharing tough-to-stomach forecasts about the dire future of Western water, pointed to this year’s runoff as an example of temperature’s ability to chip away at the benefits of a wet winter.

While snow totals in the Colorado River headwaters region peaked at around 100% of normal, warm temperatures mean flows in the Colorado River are expected to reach about 80% of normal levels.

This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUNC in Colorado and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage.

The post A rare dose of hope for the Colorado River as new study says future may be wetter appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

In Nevada’s monstrous Lake Mead Reservoir, the term “dead pool” has a dual meaning. For hydrologists, dead pool represents a catastrophically low water level in a reservoir below which the water can no longer pass through the outlet works of the dam or produce electricity. Dead pool in Lake Mead might also relate to the hundreds of human bodies concealed within its depths, some of them Las Vegas mob hits, most of them unrecovered drowning victims. In recent years Lake Mead’s water level has plummeted alarmingly towards dead pool and, as it does so, has exposed human remains along new shorelines.

Lake Mead currently sports a giant white “bathtub” ring indicating the newly exposed land. When the lake reached its lowest level in 2022, the ring was nearly 200 vertical feet, and the reservoir held only 30% of its capacity. Apocalyptic predictions of the reservoir’s doom flooded the national media. Should Lake Mead reach dead pool, tens of millions of Americans would lose power, water faucets would run dry in many cities, and hundreds of thousands of acres of some of America’s most important agricultural land would dry up.

The water level has since risen about 30 feet because of a lucky break. The southern Rockies had an epic snow year in 2023 and unleashed a monster runoff which helped replenish the Colorado River Basin including Lake Mead. But one very good snow year cannot reverse a multi-decade megadrought, and demand for Colorado River water continues to grow year by year. It’s been decades since the river flowed regularly into the ocean. All of its water is now used up before it gets to the sea. In northern Mexico, south of the Arizona border, what used to be a vast wetland delta full of wildlife has turned into a dusty wasteland. Demand for the river system’s water continues to grow while the megadrought in the Southwest marches on in the near future harbors a potential water catastrophe.

Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, USA. The Colorado river behind the dam, surrounding by red rocks, desert, and mountain.

A river by any other name

The official source of any river is mostly an arbitrary designation based on the happenstance of geographic naming. Both the Colorado and Mississippi Rivers, for example, have official sources that make little logical sense. A river, if viewed from above, resembles a giant leafless tree with ever smaller branches extending in all directions throughout the river’s basin in a fractal pattern. A river like the Colorado does not have a single source; rather it has hundreds of thousands of them throughout its vast drainage basin spread out over thousands of miles.

However, if we were to consider a river’s most logical single source to be the point on the river system that is the farthest from its mouth in river miles, then the source of the Colorado River is in west-central Wyoming where the Green River begins, not in the Colorado Mountains. The Green and Colorado Rivers merge in the middle of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Upstream from there, the Green is more than twice as long as the upper Colorado River branch. Had the entire river been named the Green — which it almost was — then its official source would most certainly be in Wyoming, not Colorado. Similarly, the source of the Mississippi should be the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana instead of its officially recognized source in Minnesota, which is hundreds of river miles closer to the Gulf of Mexico than it is the start of the Missouri.

Where does the water come from?

Some of the water that fills Lake Mead starts as snowmelt high up in the Never Summer Mountain Range near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Even up there where the Colorado River system is nothing more than a series of tiny mountain creeks, we begin to consume its waters. The first users of the Colorado’s water are you, me, and the rest of our neighbors here in the cities of the Front Range.

Unless you are on a well system, when you turn on your water faucet you are probably consuming water that was brought to you through a tunnel under the Continental Divide from the headwaters of the Colorado River. There are eight such water diversions from the Western Slope to the Front Range, the biggest of which is the Big Thompson Project. There is also the Grand Ditch, the Moffat Tunnel, the Roberts Tunnel, the Continental Hoosier System, the Homestake Project, the Twin Lakes Tunnel, and the Fry-Ark Project which provides water for Colorado Springs. Collectively they transfer almost a half million acre-feet of water annually from the Western Slope to the Front Range, all from the Colorado River’s headwater streams including the Eagle, Fryingpan, Roaring Fork, Blue, and Fraser Rivers.

The longest of these tunnels is the Alva B. Adams at 13.1 miles long and 10 feet wide, part of the Big Thompson Project. It passes right under the middle of Rocky Mountain National Park and emerges near the aptly named East Portal Campground.

dam on the South Platte River in northern Colorado below Denver, late fall scenery

Why don’t we just use the water from the South Platte? The reason is that 80% of Colorado’s population lives east of the Continental Divide while 80% of the state’s natural water supply flows west of the divide. Add to that the needs of Colorado’s thirsty Eastern Plains farms, and you have a mismatch between the location of water demand and the location of most of the water supply. The South Platte River just isn’t big enough.

This is a scenario that plays out in similar ways along the entire length of the Colorado River into northern Mexico. Along the river’s course, there are no large cities on or near its banks. The cities, Indian tribes, desert farms, and golf courses that depend on the river’s waters are scattered throughout this sparse land from the Pacific Coast to the High Plains. Forty million people use Colorado River water, most of them residing in cities far too large for their arid environments. And while the South Platte River isn’t big enough to meet the demand of the Front Range, the larger Colorado River is no longer big enough to meet the water demands of all seven states in its basin plus northern Mexico.

Mighty demand on the mighty Colorado

We think of the Colorado River as one of North America’s largest, and in terms of the geographic size of its basin, that’s true. It drains a vast area from northern Wyoming south to Mexico and from eastern California west to a thousand-plus-mile stretch of the Rocky Mountains. But in terms of water volume or discharge, the Colorado River is surprisingly small.

Thirty-six rivers in the United States carry more natural water than the Colorado River. The Mississippi carries 27 times the amount. The Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest is about 13 times larger by volume. The Yukon? Ten times larger. Even the lowly Mobile River, which is only 72 miles long, carries three times the amount of water compared to the Colorado River. We are expecting a lot from a river that is far smaller by volume than most of us realize and highly susceptible to climate changes, natural and man-made alike.

Human-caused climate change is widely believed to be a contributing factor to the current stress on the Colorado River Basin, but it is only one of many compounding variables. This is a land where even natural climate change is believed by many experts to be the primary cause of the rise and fall of whole civilizations. The climate and geological record show that megadroughts lasting several decades or more are normal here. The current megadrought is about 23 years running and coincides with significant population growth in the Southwest. It’s possible that it may turn around soon. We can hope that the big winter of 2023 — and thankfully another healthy snow year in 2024 — represents the beginning of a turning point into a wetter trend. If that happens, we will have gotten very lucky. Or it may just be a blip in a drought that has another century or more to go, for even megadroughts have wet years within them. Nobody knows which way it will go. Therefore, we must adapt and plan for the worst-case scenario.

Studying the ancient human artifacts and geologic strata of the area can unlock secrets of the past that can help us plan for the future. According to the book “Where the Water Goes” by David Owen, around the year 600 A.D., the Hohokam people “built and maintained what was then one of the world’s largest and most advanced irrigation systems in what’s now southern Arizona.”

This ancient agricultural society “diverted water from two Colorado River tributaries, the Gila and the Salt, and fed it into extensive networks of canals and ditches, with which they irrigated tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land roughly where metropolitan Phoenix is today,” wrote Owen. “Then, around 1450, the Hohokam and their complex agricultural society disappeared.” No one knows definitively why the society vanished, but one theory is that the cumulative effects of irrigation on the soil caused massive crop failures because of dissolved salts that leached into the soil and groundwater over the centuries, ultimately killing the harvest.

If that’s the correct theory, it demonstrates the importance of adaptation to changing conditions, which is exactly the kind of thing we are facing now in the same region. And, again, the needed adaptation likely must look to agriculture as the single most important contributing factor. The urban demand for the Colorado River’s water is dwarfed by the agricultural production of the area. California’s Imperial Valley sees less than three inches of annual rainfall, and yet it is an enormous producer of year-round produce, including 85% of America’s winter harvest from leafy greens to citrus fruits. The Imperial Valley alone receives an annual allotment of 3.8 million acre-feet of water from the river, which is about what the entire state of Colorado receives and a full 1.5 million acre-feet more than the entire state of Arizona.

Despite popular belief and convenient assumptions due to its proximity to Lake Mead, Las Vegas is only a minor contributor to the pressure on the Colorado River Basin. In fact, Las Vegas represents an exemplary example of urban water management headed in the right direction. Three quarters of a million more people live in the Las Vegas area now compared to just 20 years ago, but during that same period, the city has managed to reduce its water consumption by a staggering 30% or more, mostly through practical laws and incentives.

As admirable as Las Vegas’ water policies have been, the reality is that urban water management, no matter how successful, can only make a small dent in the problem. Desert golf courses and casino fountains make for easy scapegoats, but it is irrigation-based agriculture that is by far the largest draw of Colorado River water. Food production along with the multi-decade megadrought is why Lake Mead is falling and threatening to reach the dreaded dead pool level.

Who owns the water?

Water rights law is extremely complicated, and in the West, it can seem to make little sense in some cases. Unlike most of the world, even in the eastern United States, western water rights are based on the principle of “prior appropriation.” In layperson’s terms, this means that the first person to use the water has first rights to the amount of water they use regardless of where they are.

In the Colorado River Basin, the “law of the river,” as they say, was established over 100 years ago in the Colorado River Compact. This legal agreement divides the seven states in the basin into two halves, the upper basin and the lower basin. Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico are in the upper basin. California, Arizona, and Nevada make up the lower basin. One of the long-standing issues is that most of the water comes from the upper basin, but most of the consumption demand is in the lower basin, and this misalignment is getting bigger. The Colorado River also flows into northern Mexico before its mouth at the Gulf of California, so Mexico also has a small portion of the water rights. The Colorado River Compact gives each basin 50% of the U.S. rights to the water, but the upper basin states have never used their full legal allotment, even in the driest of years.

How can it be that the upper basin never uses its full legal allotment, and yet all the water in the river is used before it reaches the sea? The reason is called “paper water.” When the Colorado River Compact was written, it was based on years of historically higher than average flows in the early 1900s. Because of this, the total legal distribution of the river’s water is more than the real water that flows in the basin today. In short, the water is over-allocated.

The result is diminishing water levels in Lakes Mead and Powell as the “bank” of saved water in the reservoirs is depleted more than snowmelt each spring can replace. This also results in a river that is used up completely before it reaches the sea, creating an ecological chain reaction in Mexico and the Gulf of California as a once vast wetland delta has literally turned to dust.

Despite the difficult circumstances, there are reasons to be hopeful that the Colorado River water crisis can be mitigated to avoid a disaster, even if the megadrought persists and snowbirds keep moving to the desert to play golf. Doing so will require seven states and the federal government, specifically the Bureau of Reclamation within the Department of the Interior, to work together. In today’s political environment that might seem challenging, but the process is already moving. The Inflation Reduction Act and the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill include a combined $14.5 billion to “enhance the West’s resilience to drought, the largest investment in climate resilience in our nation’s history.” That money will be supplemented by state-level investments from the seven basin states.

Another positive is that, ultimately, the federal government has the final authority. States’s rights advocates may not like the sound of that, but river systems cross state and national boundaries and a central point of authority is a necessity when it comes to interstate commerce and resources, especially one as critical as this.

Long-term initiatives from 2027 onward are yet to be confirmed, but in general, there are supply-side and demand-side opportunities that likely need to be pursued together. Supply management is about increasing the amount of water available to meet growing demand. Demand management is about using that water more efficiently to reduce consumption. In both cases, there are many things that can be done with a combination of infrastructure investment, education, a focus on more sustainable practices, and political will. This must all be achieved while simultaneously limiting the impact on the ecosystems within the basin and, hopefully, restoring past damage.

After decades of little to no Colorado River water reaching the ocean, a “pulse” of 100 thousand acre-feet of water was released from the last impoundment in Mexico in 2014. For nearly two months the river flowed once again all the way to the Gulf of California, and the dry delta immediately sprang to life with greenery as astounded ecologists measured the resiliency of nature.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area – Low Water Level on Colorado River Reservoir Shoreline – Drought, Water Rights

Lake Mead may never again reach full pool unless there is a major decades-long shift to a wetter climate, but it does not ever have to reach dead pool either, even if the megadrought continues. There are many things that can and likely will be done in the years to come to ensure the lasting health of the Colorado River system and the well-being of all that depend on it.

The example set by the city of Las Vegas gives us hope that it is possible to achieve similar results on a much larger scale. Agriculture can be made much more efficient through incentivizing the planting of less thirsty crops. Untapped water tables can be utilized in places to relieve pressure on the comparatively little surface water. New technologies can be deployed to reduce waste and improve efficiency.

Regardless of the specific solutions, changes must be made for a sustainable Colorado River Basin, and some of those changes might impact us right here in the Front Range as the first consumers of Colorado River water. The alternative of dead pool is not an option.

The post The Colorado River Water Emergency appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Created by Heather Sackett at Aspen Journalism 

LAS VEGAS — Representatives from two lower basin states on the Colorado River have said they would finally address something that the upper basin states, including Colorado, have long pressed them to do: Fix the supply/demand imbalance sometimes called the “structural deficit.”

Water uses in the lower basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — have in recent years exceeded the supply in the drought-strapped Colorado River. Water managers in the upper basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah — have long pointed to the lower basin not living within the means of what the river provides as a driving force behind plummeting reservoir levels, leading the system to the verge of collapse in 2022. On Thursday, lower basin representatives agreed.

“There’s a mismatch there,” said J.B. Hamby, chair of the Colorado River Board of California. “And so, where we’re at in the lower basin is a recognition that we have to solve and own that supply/demand imbalance. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be challenging. But it’s absolutely necessary.”

The remarks came during a panel at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas, the largest annual gathering of the basin’s water managers, policy experts, environmental advocates, state and federal officials, and tribal leaders.

The structural deficit can be thought of as the amount lost to evaporation and transit loss in the lower basin, estimated in 2022 by Nevada water officials to be about 1.5 million acre-feet per year, which currently remains unaccounted for in supply/demand balance sheets, plus the lower basin states’ 750,000 acre-foot obligation to Mexico. These amounts have historically been able to be satisfied by system storage. But as drought and climate change have robbed the river of flows, Lake Powell and Lake Mead have flirted with falling below critical thresholds, triggering federal action in 2021 and emergency calls for cuts in 2022.

The amount of the structural deficit is on top of the 7.5 million acre-feet the lower basin uses — its entire share under the Colorado River Compact. The upper basin has never used its whole allocation.

The exact number of acre-feet needed to cure the structural deficit is unclear, and officials say it still won’t be enough to solve shortages on the beleaguered river, which supplies water to farms, ranches, cities and industries throughout the Southwest.

“I think that number is not quite defined yet,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the state’s principal negotiator on Colorado River matters. “There’s a range that that number might be, and so we are going to own that. But I expect once we own that, there’s the need to further stabilize the river.”

Becky Mitchell, Colorado’s representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission, said it was exciting that lower basin officials finally acknowledged that the structural deficit was their problem to solve. But the success or failure of any conservation plan will be borne out in the details.

“The proof is in the pudding of what that looks like,” Mitchell said. “Is it real, meaningful cuts? Are they permanent? When do they take place and how do we quantify that?”

Post-2026 Guidelines

Officials have their work cut out for them as a deadline for managing the river looms on the horizon. Representatives of the seven Colorado River basin states have begun negotiating new guidelines for reservoir operations to replace the current ones, which expire at the end of 2026.

Developed in response to drought conditions in the first years of the century, the current guidelines set shortage tiers based on reservoir levels and spell out which states in the lower basin take shortages and by how much their water deliveries will be cut in dry years. At this year’s CRWUA conference, several officials have publicly acknowledged the flaws and shortcomings of these 2007 guidelines and their desire to not repeat those mistakes.

One of the mistakes that officials are working to rectify is the historical exclusion of tribes from policy talks and decision-making. In its notice of intent regarding the post-2026 guidelines negotiations, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it intends to develop an approach that facilitates and enhances tribal engagement and inclusivity.

At Wednesday’s meeting of the UCRC, which took place in Las Vegas as part of the CRWUA conference, representatives from the upper basin’s tribes — Jicarilla Apache Nation, Navajo Nation, Paiute Tribe of Utah, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Uintah-Ouray Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe — were invited to speak. Tribal leaders have been meeting with UCRC officials and working to codify their inclusion in the post-2026 guidelines negotiations and other future decision-making processes.

Many tribes, especially those in the lower basin, have unquantified water rights on paper that have never been used, although some tribes say they still intend to develop their water. But in an already shortage-prone system, any new water project that takes more from the Colorado River could be problematic. Tribes’ unused water has been propping up the system for years, and when finally put to beneficial use, it could exacerbate shortages for other water users. Continuing to exclude tribes from decision-making is no longer tenable, upper basin officials say.

On Wednesday, Lorelei Cloud, tribal council vice chair for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and a representative on the Colorado Water Conservation Board, hinted at a forthcoming memorandum of understanding.

“We want to work toward creating an MOU or some type of mechanism that is going to formalize this process so that these relationships and these conversations continue,” Cloud said. “It’s something that I think tribes have been wanting for quite a long time, to be at that level.”

A big snowpack during the winter of 2022-23 provided water managers some breathing room after three consecutive dismal years. Lake Powell saw about 12 million acre-feet of inflow for water year 2023, the third-best year in the past two decades.

But even though some urgency has been lifted, tensions still ran high among the seven basin state negotiators Thursday. The legacy of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which divided the waters equally between the upper basin and lower basin, has often put the two regions at odds.

Mitchell spoke passionately about the need for pain to be shared among the basin’s water users. Others reaffirmed their commitments to compromise. Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager John Entsminger said there is no silver bullet, only silver buckshot.

“Expunge ‘can’t’ from your vocabularies,” he told the crowd. “The savings we need are all around us. They’re small. They’re incremental, but they’re there. … I’m asking every water user to look at every water use and figure out how incrementally we all contribute our little BB of silver buckshot to the solution.”

Aspen Journalism is an independent, nonprofit, investigative news organization covering water, social justice, environment and more. Visit http://aspenjournalism.org.

The post Lower Basin Water Managers Say It’s Time To Fix Their Supply/Demand Problem appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Provided by KUNC

The Imperial Irrigation District in California, which uses more Colorado River water than any other farm district or city in the West, has agreed to conserve 100,000 acre-feet in 2023 in exchange for payments from the federal government. It’s less than half the amount of water the district originally proposed saving last spring.

The district’s conservation agreement represents the first batch of water conserved as part of Imperial’s contributions to a three-state agreement in which California, Arizona and Nevada are pledging to conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water by the end of 2026, with at least 1.5 million conserved by the end of 2024. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to fill one acre of land to a height of one foot. One acre-foot generally provides enough water for one to two households for a year.

In April, the irrigation district said it would conserve 250,000 acre-feet each year through 2026 as part of a water-saving proposal from the Colorado River Board of California. The 100,000 acre-feet announced in this latest proposal is less than half of that initial goal, but officials with the district say they are aiming to conserve a total of 800,000 acre-feet across the four-year stretch—a goal still 200,000 acre-feet short of the original four-year proposal.

“We’re not backing away from the 250k – but it is a big number,” Robert Schettler, a spokesman for Imperial Irrigation District, wrote in an email. “It was felt that this was needed to be done sooner than later for this single year.”

Tina Shields, Imperial’s water department manager, said conserving a larger quantity of water would have required a multi-year environmental review process, which the district plans to pursue for a 2024-2026 conservation deal.

“We were able to knock out an agreement for this year to do as much as we could under existing programs,” she said. “But we couldn’t implement any new programs without that environmental permitting piece.”

Michael Cohen, a senior researcher with the water think tank Pacific Institute, said he thinks Imperial may have been ready to offer more water in exchange for more federal payment—but the Bureau of Reclamation may be doing “some deliberation” and waiting to see if mountain snow adds to this year’s Colorado River water supply before spending more money.

“We don’t know how much water is coming, this coming winter,” Cohen said. “I’m hopeful that Reclamation is conserving some of that money because they’re going to need to invest presumably more money, maybe not for 2024, but 2025 and 2026.”

Reclamation, the federal agency that manages the Colorado River’s major dams and reservoirs, will pay about $776 for each acre-foot Imperial conserves, Shields said. That’s nearly double the amount it has paid out to other agricultural districts for water conservation. Federal payments have mostly been capped at $400 per acre-foot, including some made to farm districts that neighbor Imperial. The actual price will be adjusted slightly to account for inflation before payments are finalized.

Some Southwestern farmers have suggested they want much higher payments, sometimes more than $1,200 per acre-foot, since the Biden Administration announced last year it would spend billions on drought mitigation work in the Colorado River basin.

The payout value is tied to a contract between Imperial Irrigation District and the San Diego County Water Authority. About half of the water that will be conserved was initially designated to be transferred to San Diego, but will now instead remain in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir. Imperial officials said the saved water comes from efficiency programs on farms within the district, like new sprinklers and pumps as well as other innovative changes to the fields in which crops are grown.

Farmers in the Imperial Valley told KUNC last summer that federal payments are an integral part of spurring them to help cut back water use.

John Hawk watches farmworkers pick vegetables in California’s Imperial Valley on June 20, 2023. Hawk and other farmers in Imperial Irrigation District say compensation will be an important part of saving water in the region. (Alex Hager/KUNC)

“Do we need to conserve? Absolutely,” said John Hawk, a farmer in the Imperial Valley. “We need to conserve, but we need to be paid for the conservation.”

Those farmers and Imperial Irrigation District officials also stressed the need for money to help remedy problems caused by a drying Salton Sea. The Colorado River used to intermittently fill the giant lake before it was dammed upstream, causing its flows to be significantly curtailed.

Now, with the river confined to its channel, the sea is sustained with runoff from the farm fields of the Imperial Valley. As the valley’s farmers use less water, the Salton Sea will continue to dry up, reducing habitat for the flocks of migratory birds that stop there and producing dust storms that increase the risk of asthma and other respiratory diseases among the valley’s residents.

This week’s water conservation agreement triggers the release of $70 million from an available $250 million in federal funding earmarked last year for environmental projects to support the Salton Sea. Bureau of Reclamation officials, including Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton, plan to visit the Salton Sea later this week to highlight that spending.

This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUNC and supported by the Walton Family Foundation.

The post The Colorado Rivers Biggest User Will Conserve Some Water In Exchange For Federal Dollars appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Alex Hager at KUNC (Via AP Storyshare)

High in the mountains of Colorado, it’s a time of quiet.

The summer leaves have given way to bare branches, but the ski slopes haven’t yet filled with tourists—or snow. Soon, the flakes will begin to pile up, burying alpine valleys and recharging the Colorado River.

The river – which supplies water to tens of millions of people from Wyoming to Mexico – gets most of its water from high-altitude snow, two-thirds of which falls in Colorado. This winter’s forecast is unclear, but however it unfolds will have an outsized impact on the next few years of region-wide water management. Last year’s wet winter may have created more space for long-term negotiations about sharing the Colorado River, but if the region sees low snow totals in the coming months, policy analysts say things could quickly turn in the wrong direction and reintroduce some urgency to water management talks.

Navigating a wetland bramble on the banks of Homestake Creek in Eagle County, Colorado, James Dilzell, director of the nonprofit Eagle River Watershed Council, mused on the regional importance of snow in the Rockies.

“It’s amazing to think of the journey,” he said, noting that what happens to the rivers and streams near the resort town of Vail has far-reaching impacts.

The post Winter snow could help recharge the Colorado River. But what if it doesn’t? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Alex Hager, KUNC (Via AP Storyshare)

Federal officials are easing water restrictions in response to new Colorado River forecasts from the Bureau of Reclamation. An unusually snowy winter in the mountains helped replenish the beleaguered river and added water to the nation’s largest reservoirs. But the river’s users, which include seven Western states, 30 Native American tribes and Mexico, are still under pressure to reduce demand.

Overall water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell have been declining for more than two decades, and experts widely agree that one wet winter will not be enough to correct the river’s growing supply-demand imbalance. The snowy weather has, however, helped buy time for the negotiators who will decide how the river will be shared in the future. They are expected to agree on new guidelines for the river by 2026, when the current rules expire.

“We are still on the precipice of a lot of uncertainty,” said Kyle Roerink, director of the nonprofit Great Basin Water Network. “The precarious nature of our modern water cycle should give all water managers pause. We just have to think, how are we going to live in a world where there’s going to be much less?”

Human-caused climate change is making the Western U.S. warmer, upsetting the natural processes that keep water flowing through the Colorado River. At the same time, the river is seeing steady demand from tens of millions of people from Wyoming to Mexico. More than 70% of that demand for water, however, comes from agriculture.

New projections from Reclamation – the federal agency which manages Western water – show Lake Mead’s water level falling just below 1,068 feet in January of next year. A shortage is triggered any time that number is below 1,075 feet.

Reclamation releases a new version of the 24-month study each month, projecting the next two years of water availability. The August study is used to determine if cutbacks are needed in the coming year.

In 2022, the agency’s August projections dealt the first-ever mandatory cutbacks to some water users and thrust the Colorado River’s supply-demand imbalance into the national spotlight. In 2023, those cuts were expanded.

This August study will roll back 2023’s water restrictions. New cuts, which will be put in place in 2024, are the same size as the cuts in place for 2022. Arizona will lose about 18% of its Colorado River supply and about 8% of the state’s total water use. Nevada will lose about 7% of its water allocation.

Current cutbacks are based on agreements written in 2007 and 2019.

The Central Arizona Project, which brings Colorado River water across the desert to supply the Phoenix area, will feel the brunt of Arizona’s cuts.

Brenda Burman, CAP’s director and former commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, said the cuts are difficult for farmers in Pinal County, but will not have short-term impacts on homes and businesses in the Phoenix metro area.

“In 2024,” Burman said, “You should not be concerned about the water coming out of your faucet. But in the long term, you should know that we are in shortage. This is not something new. We expect that there is a smaller river.”

Buying time

In the past four years, the amount of water stored in Lake Powell dropped particularly quickly. In April of 2023, water levels dipped to the lowest they’ve been since the reservoir was first filled in the 1960s.

The Glen Canyon Dam holds back water in Lake Powell on November 2, 2022. A string of particularly dry years led water managers to focus on protecting infrastructure in the dam. Now, they are expected to turn their focus to a long-term reworking of how the Colorado River is shared. (Alex Hager/KUNC)

Conservationists who campaign for the draining of Lake Powell celebrated the return of once-submerged geological features and animal habitat, but water managers scrambled to protect infrastructure reliant on certain reservoir levels.

Hydroelectric generators within Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back Lake Powell, depend on a steady inflow of water to keep turbines spinning. During the recent stretch of dry years, electricity output decreased because of weaker flows, and if water levels dropped any lower, they would have fallen below the pipes that pull water into the generators and threatened irreparable damage.

“We’re going to be back to the brink soon enough,” Roerink said. “So anyone who’s resting on their laurels, whether it be folks in power markets or water users, I think are living in a fallacy.”

Decisions about where to store the region’s water were, for a few years, shaped by the urgent need to prop up Lake Powell, keeping those turbines spinning and keeping electricity flowing to about 5 million people across seven states.

This year’s boost to Lake Powell is expected to lift some of that urgency and allow appointed negotiators from each of the seven states which use the river to focus on long-term decisions about the river’s future.

“All of us who rely on the river,” Burman said, “Who rely on our amazing infrastructure, have to be able to come to the table and show how they can live with less.”

This story is part of ongoing coverage of water in the West, produced by KUNC in Colorado and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. KUNC is solely responsible for its editorial coverage.

The post Feds ease Colorado River cutbacks after positive forecast, but more work remains appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photo by the Paul Wilkinson Law Firm

[LOCAL]

• Online marijuana sales began on August 7th. Someone should really start a pizza + weed delivery combo.
• Fort Lupton police officer found guilty for leaving a woman in his patrol cruiser that was struck by a train. The officer parked his car on the train tracks after taking her into custody. She survived but was severely injured.
• Newly implemented law in Colorado to raise age to buy a firearm to 21 has been blocked by Federal Judge.
• Nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of bikes have been stolen in Boulder this year according to the Stolen Bikes dashboard
• Mike Johnson is inaugurated as Denver’s Mayor after beating Kelly Brough earlier this summer.

[NATIONAL]

• Florida tries to ban AP Psychology in their growing fight against being educated.
• Two attorneys associated with Colorado, John Eastman and Jenna Ellis, are indicted alongside Trump, this time simply for attempting to overthrow our government and end democracy as we know it.
• The State of Georgia also indicts Trump over his tampering with election results. Pardons in Georgia particularly hard to come by.
• Entire Colorado River Basin faces massive drought mainly due to decrease in snowmelt from shifting climate patterns.
• Mitch McConnell apparently freezes on live TV in a scary incident, prompting questions of his health and fitness for office.
• Twitter rebrands to “X” begging the question: why?

[INTERNATIONAL]

• Sinead O’Connor passes away at 56. Thank you for speaking up against Papal abuse when no one else would.
• U.S. soldier who was about to be disciplined sprinted across the North Korean border, defecting to the brutal regime.
• Over 1,000 Russians and Belarussians are stripped of their permanent resident status in Lithuania after being deemed “threats to national security”.
• Heading to Europe next year? Make sure to apply for a Visa, something previously unrequired.
• Group of West African nations say they will intervene in Niger’s ongoing coup if it is not soon resolved diplomatically.

Small Talk

“Tragically, young people are getting their hands on guns all too easily and putting them to terrible use against others — and with serious consequences for their own lives.” – DA Michael Doughtery on recent youth gun violence

“The fire was just traveling too fast, and too hot and next thing you know Lahaina town is gone, literally gone.” – Mark Stefle, Maui Fire survivor

“While I appreciate the need for transparency, it is important to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation regarding the law enforcement officers’ use of force.” – Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons on Sheriff’s records request denial regarding the shooting of Charlie Foster

“Now, more than nine months have passed, no evidence has been revealed and it has become even clearer that the impact of the dean’s actions has been irreparable and far-reaching.” – Letter signed by more than 300 academics protesting firing of CU Boulder professor Patty Limerick from the Center of the American West

By the Numbers

22% – Increase in abortions performed by Colorado clinics following harsh restrictions like those in Texas
$1 Billion – Barbie Movie revenue, highest ever for a female director
13% – Number of Colorado families who will receive free full time preschool, not the promised 50%
110° / 31 Days – Phoenix experiences an entire month of daily temperatures over 100°
60% – Increase in water bills after a sudden water rate hike for Lafayette residents
17 – People shot and killed by Colorado law enforcement in 2023 so far

The post Month in Review | August 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photo and Article by Alex Hager / KUNC (Via AP Storyshare)

Deaths on rivers in Colorado are up from last year, according to data from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. So far this year, 18 people have died on the state’s rivers and creeks, compared to only 13 in 2022.

The increase comes after heavy precipitation across the state. Above average winter snows and strong spring rains overloaded streams and rivers, making conditions more dangerous.

The Colorado River, which begins in Rocky Mountain National Park and eventually flows into Utah, has accounted for the most deaths and disappearances so far this year. Five people have died on the Colorado, and three are considered missing. The Arkansas River accounts for the second most deaths, with four.

“We want people out there recreating and having fun,” said Joey Livingston, a spokesman for CPW, “But water can inherently be dangerous. So there is a need to take some safety precautions.”

There is no official state tally of river deaths, but CPW has kept an unofficial list of incidents over the past two years. In addition to the 18 deaths, the agency’s list also marks three people as missing. CPW said river deaths occurred among rafters, tubers, and swimmers.

Another database of Colorado’s river incidents, kept by the advocacy group American Whitewater, shows that many of the deaths are on private or commercial rafting trips. Colorado is considered one of the nation’s most popular states for whitewater rafting. The Colorado River Outfitters Association reports that commercial raft customers spent $543,515 on the state’s rivers in 2022, resulting in an economic impact of more than $203 million.

So far, 2023 has delivered sustained high flows which are a direct result of high-mountain snow piled up in spades, rushing through rivers as it melted. Some parts of the state saw spring rain totals well above average, helping keep those flows high even after snow largely melted away. The Colorado River near Glenwood Springs, for example, has been flowing about 30% higher than average since peaking in June.

A release from CPW said just six inches of swift-moving water can knock a person off their feet, and water flowing at seven miles per hour has the equivalent force per unit area as air blowing above 200 miles per hour.

CPW is urging river users to take extensive safety precautions to reduce the risk of injury or death. That includes wearing a lifejacket and helmet, checking conditions ahead of time, and traveling with an experienced river guide.

Just like driving on the highway, Livingston said, “accidents happen,” even for experienced river travelers.

“So, similar to putting on your seatbelt when you get in a car, driving safely, driving slowly,” Livingston said. “You want to take some more precautions when you’re out on the water to make sure you have all your safety equipment, are aware of your surroundings and know the conditions before you go there.”

This year, people have also died in the Dolores River, the Roaring Fork River, the Animas River, Boulder Creek, and Fountain Creek. CPW’s tally also shows deaths in an irrigation canal in Lamar, Colorado and West Creek Falls within Rocky Mountain National Park.

CPW says overall water deaths in 2023 – a category that also includes drownings in reservoirs and other still bodies of water – are down from the year before.

This story is part of ongoing coverage of water in the West, produced by KUNC and supported by the Walton Family Foundation.

The post River deaths are on the rise in Colorado appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By: Luke Runyon KUNC (Via AP Storyshare)

The Supreme Court has ruled against the Navajo Nation in a case centered on the tribe’s rights to the drying Colorado River. 

The tribe claimed it was the federal government’s legal duty to help figure out their future water needs, and aid them in using their rights. But in a 5-4 decision, the justices said an 1868 treaty included no such promises.

In the majority opinion comprised of the court’s conservative wing, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the agreement between the Navajo Nation and the federal government set aside water for use on the reservation that stretches more than 25,000 square miles across an arid reach of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, but it did not create a duty for the federal government to help the tribe secure that water.

“The 1868 treaty reserved necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the Navajo Reservation,” Kavanaugh wrote. “But the treaty did not require the United States to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe.”

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the majority both misunderstands the tribe’s claims and applies an incorrect legal framework in making its decision. The tribe has tried different legal avenues to gain the assistance it needs and work to quantify its water rights, he wrote.

“Where do the Navajo go from here?” Gorsuch wrote in his opinion. “To date, their efforts to find out what water rights the United States holds for them have produced an experience familiar to any American who has spent time at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Navajo have waited patiently for someone, anyone, to help them, only to be told (repeatedly) that they have been standing in the wrong line and must try another.”

More than a third of Navajo Nation residents lack access to clean water in their homes. The tribe experienced some of the highest infection rates in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred a new sense of urgency around public health and hygiene and to address the tribe’s gap between water supply and demand.

Some of the tribe’s water rights in the Colorado River basin have been quantified, such as in the portions of the reservation in Utah and New Mexico. But in Arizona, where the vast majority of the reservation lies, the tribe’s water is not quantified and settled, which leaves unanswered questions about how much water the tribe might end up using from the Colorado River. That uncertainty over future river management spurred the states of Colorado, Nevada and Arizona to urge the Supreme Court to decide in their favor.

“Today’s ruling is disappointing and I am encouraged that the ruling was 5-4,” said Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren in a statement. “It is reassuring that four justices understood our case and our arguments. As our lawyers continue to analyze the opinion and determine what it means for this particular lawsuit, I remain undeterred in obtaining quantified water rights for the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The Navajo Nation established a water rights negotiation team earlier this year and we are working very hard to settle our water rights in Arizona.”

The process to quantify and settle water rights varies from tribe to tribe but can drag on for decades, depending on their complexity and the number of stakeholders involved.

“Ever since this case started, what the issue is has been framed in a lot of different ways,” said Heather Tanana, a University of Utah law professor and citizen of the Navajo Nation. ”It’s that misframing and warping of what the Nation was actually asking that resulted in that, in my opinion, wrong decision.”

This new ruling will not lead to immediate on-the-ground effects in the tribe’s desire to use its water rights, Tanana said. Recently allocated funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act have begun to flow to some tribes, including the Navajo Nation, to build water supply projects. The burden will remain on tribes to plan for their future uses and to secure and use the water they are legally entitled to, she said.

“The status quo is going to continue,” Tanana said. “Being disappointed by the federal government is nothing new in Indian Country.”

This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced and distributed by KUNC and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. 

The post Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation in Colorado River case appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Alex Hager / KUNC (via AP Storyshare)

A stretch of unusually wet months has erased drought across much of the Southwest. A briefing by climate experts spelled out how a snowy winter and rainy spring brought relief to a particularly parched region.

“Unlike some past presentations I’ve given for the Southwest,” said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, “This one actually has some good news in it.”

In June 2022, 99% of the Southwest was under some degree of drought. Just a year later, only 28% of the region is experiencing drought. The U.S. Drought monitor defines the Southwest as Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada.

Parts of those states saw record-setting snowpack this winter, keeping ski resorts open late into the spring and providing a big dose of relief for water managers grappling with a shrinking supply of drinking water from the Colorado River. Precipitation continued into the warmer months as well.

Even in places where drought conditions persist, they are less severe than a year ago. Last June, 72% of the Southwest was under “extreme drought” or “exceptional drought,” the two most severe categories. Now, 0% of the region is experiencing those high levels of drought, with the majority of drought-stricken areas classified under the least severe category.

“What’s really safe to say is, throughout the entire West, we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of drought,” Fuchs said. “And that can be coupled back to what we saw through the fall and winter months, and even the spring throughout the region.”

The snowy winter was a boon to the Colorado River, which gets nearly two-thirds of its water from the state of Colorado. The remainder mostly comes from high-elevation parts of Utah and Wyoming. The snowy boost bought water managers enough time to agree on a temporary water conservation deal that should last for the next three years.

The Colorado River, which supplies tens of millions of people and a multi-billion dollar agricultural industry from Wyoming to Mexico, is shrinking at the hands of climate change. Scientists say the term “drought” may no longer be appropriate for the region, and often refer to the Southwest’s steady drying as “aridification.” That term describes a permanent reset of the baseline amount of water the region should expect each year.

In the months ahead, Fuchs expects conditions to lean warmer and drier than normal, especially in Arizona and New Mexico. He added that the area is typically warm and dry until the North American Monsoon picks up later in the summer. The monsoon is a weather pattern that typically peaks in July and August, bringing rainstorms to the Southwest.

While the region’s water supply is mostly fueled by snow, climatologists say summertime moisture provides a boost for farmers and ranchers and helps reduce the likelihood of wildfire.

This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced and distributed by KUNC and supported by the Walton Family Foundation.

The post Months of wet weather erase drought across the Southwest appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

A pontoon boat is tied up at the shore of a recently-revealed beach in one of Lake Powell’s side canyons on April 10, 2023. The evening sunlight casts a reflection of the canyon’s “bathtub rings” on the still water. (Alex Hager/KUNC)

By Alex Hager, KUNC (AP Storyshare)

If you want to see the Colorado River change in real time, head to Lake Powell.

At the nation’s second-largest reservoir, water levels recently dipped to the lowest they’ve been since 1968. As the water recedes, a breathtaking landscape of deep red-rock canyons that cradle lush ecosystems and otherworldly arches, caverns and waterfalls is emerging.

On a warm afternoon after the reservoir had dipped to a record low, Jack Stauss walked along a muddy creek bed at the bottom of one of those canyons. He works as the outreach coordinator for Glen Canyon Institute, a conservation nonprofit that campaigns for the draining of the reservoir and highlights the natural beauty of Glen Canyon, which was flooded in the 1960s to create Lake Powell.

“I call this the moon zone,” Stauss said, as his shin-high rubber boots splashed through cold pools and eddies. “There are ecosystems that thrive in these side canyons, even when they’ve been de-watered for just, like, four years. You start to see stuff come back on a really unprecedented scale.”

Lake Powell is already receiving a major springtime boost. Until July, snow from an epic winter in the Rocky Mountains will melt and flow into the reservoir, and portions of those side canyons will flood anew. But for a brief moment in the late winter and early spring of 2023, Powell was creeping lower by the day. The falling water levels have created a harrowing visual reminder. Climate change has put the West’s key water supply on the ropes. At the same time, the drop reveals a spectacular landscape that environmentalists have heralded as a “lost national park.”

Stauss – an environmentalist who refers to Lake Powell as “the reservoir” – invited a small group of adventurous water wonks to chronicle its historically low water levels. He ambles along through the ankle-deep water, pointing up toward the infamous “bathtub rings,” chalky white mineral deposits on the canyon walls that serve as visual markers of the reservoir’s heyday.

“It’s staggering,” Stauss said. “The scale is hard to wrap your head around. The fact that the whole time we were just hiking, we would have been underwater, is shocking.”

The high water line, set in the early 1980s, is more than 180 feet above our heads. Even last summer’s high water mark is about eye level.

Reminders of Glen Canyon’s return to some form of pre-reservoir normal aren’t always as static as the bathtub rings on canyon walls. All around our feet, the shallow water teems with life. The crystal-clear creeks are full of spindly bugs that float on the water’s surface. Occasionally, toads jump from the stream’s sandy banks. Lizards bask in patches of sun. Bird calls echo off the smooth walls and melt into a distorted chorus.

Teal Lehto, who makes short videos about the Colorado River on TikTok under the name “WesternWaterGirl,” was also on the expedition. She pushed past a dense thicket of willows as we hiked through the canyon.

“It’s really, really interesting seeing the way that the ecosystem is recovering,” Lehto said. “And then there’s a little bit of heartbreak knowing that this area is probably going to be submerged again in a couple of months.”

After spending decades under mostly-still water, these canyons are laden with heaps of sediment that settled onto on the lake’s floor. Towering, crumbly banks of sand and dirt line the bottom of each side canyon, often high enough that some of the group’s ski enthusiasts try to carve down, sliding across the loose deposits in their sandals.

As those sandy banks start to erode, they also reveal traces of human activity. Old beer cans, golf balls and other tattered bits of unidentifiable trash poke through the sediment, leaving lasting reminders of Powell’s double-life: a bustling haven for recreation, and a key piece of water storage infrastructure.

‘Nature bats last’

The group’s boat – a rented pontoon boat with plenty of space for the camera gear, camping setups and loaded coolers we’ve piled towards the back – wasn’t particularly agile. Stauss carefully piloted the craft through a “ghost forest,” where the blackened, skeletal tips of cottonwood trees are just seeing the light of day after decades underwater.

“Every time you come down here, it’s sort of a different game of steering the boat through stuff,” he said. “It’s kind of exciting, actually, like a little puzzle.”

After a slow cruise around the eerie labyrinth of treetops, Stauss leaned the accelerator back into neutral. The boat idled in front of the messy, muddy delta of the Escalante River. The river carries snowmelt about 90 miles through Southeast Utah before it runs into Lake Powell, in an area which was once the free-flowing Colorado River.

Another member of the expedition, Len Necefer, was in this same spot last year. Necefer, a member of the Navajo Nation, founded the consulting and media group NativesOutdoors and holds a PhD in engineering and public policy.

“It’s constantly changing,” he said. “In a few weeks you’ll be able to motor around and go up to Willow Canyon and all that. But right now it’s in this sort of crazy zone of transition.”

The group ponders a trek out onto the delta itself but decides against venturing into the mud, where footing looks uncertain. As the boat cruised into a U-turn, Necefer posited that “nature bats last.”

Len Necefer, a member of the Navajo Nation and founder of Natives Outdoors, takes a picture in Glen Canyon on April 10, 2023. At the muddy, messy delta where the Escalante River meets Lake Powell, Necefer posited that “nature bats last.” (Alex Hager/KUNC)

“Bottom of the ninth, end of a baseball game, nature is at bat and basically has the final say on what happens,” he said.

Nature is taking its last licks in nearly every corner of the sprawling reservoir. Elsewhere, a natural stone arch, once completely submerged, is now so high above the water that you can drive a boat underneath.

At the reservoir’s marinas, receding water has thrown a curveball to Lake Powell’s powerhouse recreation industry. In 2019, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area attracted 4.4 million visitors, more than Yellowstone National Park. The National Park Service says tourism brought $502.7 million to local economies.

But the recreation area – a world-renowned hotspot for houseboaters, wakeboarders and jet skiers – has taken a hit.

At marinas along Lake Powell, the distance between the parking lot and the shore of the reservoir has gotten dramatically longer over the past two decades.

At Bullfrog Marina, where Stauss rented the pontoon boat, what was once a gentle ramp right next to the parking lot is now a strip of concrete hundreds of feet long. Docks and buoys once moored in water dozens of feet deep now lie crooked and dusty on the desert ground.

In the past few years, the National Park Service has had to make the Bullfrog Marina ramp even longer, chasing the water as it recedes. Further upstream, the Hite Marina, once a busy put-in for boats, is stranded so far away from the water that it is now shuttered.

‘Speechless’ at the Cathedral

Each hike into a new side canyon was the same. Stauss pushed the bow of the pontoon boat into the muddy shore, and the group hopped out clad with backpacks full of cameras. At each new mooring, the path was only visible a few dozen yards up the canyon before a dramatic curve obscured the route ahead.

On one hike, an extra-squishy patch of mud turned out to be quicksand. The trekkers tap danced across it, careful not to sink too deep, but egged each other on to test its limits. Filmmaker Ben Masters, a member of the expedition, wriggled around until he was waist deep and needed a hand to get unstuck.

Jack Stauss and filmmaker Ben Masters walk into Cathedral in the Desert on April 10, 2023. At one point, Lake Powell was so high that people could drive boats nearly 100 feet above Cathedral’s distinctive waterfall. (Alex Hager/KUNC)

“Indiana Jones taught me to stop resisting,” Lehto said as Masters pulled himself out of the muck.

After about a half hour of strolling, the crew got what it came for – a rare glimpse of Cathedral in the Desert.

Awe-inspiring as they are, the side canyons can blur together after a few hours of plodding through relatively indistinct curves in the rock.

This one is different.

The hikers round a corner and come upon a red-rock cavern. The group, chatty on the way in, falls silent for a moment.

“I’m kind of speechless, which is really funny for me, because I always have something to say,” said Lehto, the TikTok creator. “But it is gorgeous. It’s amazing to me to imagine that this was all underwater, and it will be underwater again soon.”

The canyon tapered into a kind of dome, where only narrow slivers of sunlight peek through. In one corner, at the foot of a giant sand mound, a thin waterfall trickled from above. The rivulet snaked through a crack in the rock before it dribbled into a frigid, still pool and echoed through the cavern.

“I kind of wish there was a choir here because I think it would be really beautiful,” Lehto said. “Anybody know how to sing?”

Nobody in the group chimes in. Most are silent, staring up toward the top of the waterfall and contemplating the best way to position their cameras.

After a few minutes of silent marveling, Stauss provides some context.

Cathedral in the Desert made a brief above-water appearance in 2005, only to be submerged again until 2019. Since then, fluctuating water levels have flooded in and out of the pocket, limiting the waterfall’s height.

“People used to boat up 100 feet above the waterfall,” he said. “It’s something we’ve been waiting for for a long time. It’s another one of these markers of restoration to see Cathedral come back and to know that it’s not just a fraction of what it once was, but it’s going to be full size.”

Canyon walls at Cathedral in the Desert are reflected in a small stream on April 10, 2023. Cathedral in the Desert made a brief above-water appearance in 2005, only to be submerged again until 2019. (Alex Hager/KUNC)

After the fall, a rise

Standing under the Cathedral’s ceiling of smooth desert stone, Stauss pondered the future of a region where Lake Powell, and the rest of the Colorado River’s sprawling network of storage infrastructure, are due for an overhaul.

“I don’t think we should just think that the drawdown of these reservoirs is over,” he said. “I think we should use the moment to rethink completely how we store, use and conserve water across the West—and I think Glen Canyon should be at the heart of that conversation.”

In some circles, Glen Canyon is a major thread in conversations about water management. Environmentalists argue that Powell should be drained and Glen Canyon should be allowed to return completely. Recreators disagree, and water managers have shown reluctance to break so sharply from the status quo.

But the Colorado River’s rapid drying has pushed the idea of draining Lake Powell from the fringe and given a semblance of legitimacy to water management ideas once considered far-fetched. The river, which supplies tens of millions across the Southwest, has faced dry conditions since around 2000. The seven U.S. states which share its water have been caught in a standoff about how to cut back on demand.

This year, deep mountain snow promises a serious boost, the likes of which have only been seen a handful of times in the past two decades. Runoff is expected to raise the reservoir’s surface by about 50 to 90 feet by this July.

But even the most cautious runoff estimates would leave the reservoir less than 40% full. Its levels will again begin to drop over the fall and winter.

One year of strong snow won’t be nearly enough to pull the reservoir out of trouble. Climate scientists say the Colorado River would need five or six winters like this one to rescue its major reservoirs from the brink of crisis.

The past few springs delivered relatively low runoff, leading to summers fraught with mandatory water cutbacks and emergency releases from smaller reservoirs – efforts primarily focused on keeping water in Lake Powell.

Water managers are under pressure to keep water flowing through hydroelectric turbines within Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back Powell. After decades as a rock-solid emblem of the nation’s Cold War era expansion into the West, dropping water levels are threatening one of the dam’s primary functions. If water dips too low, the federal government could be forced to shut off hydropower generators that supply electricity to 5 million people across seven states.

This wet winter will ease some of that pressure, although water managers have publicly emphasized the need to avoid “squandering” the benefits of an unusually snowy year. The favorable conditions could relieve the need for emergency changes to Colorado River management, allowing the seven states which share its water to wait until 2026 for broader changes. The current operating guidelines for the river are set to expire that year, and water managers are expected to come up with more permanent cutbacks to water demand before that happens.

Amid tense negotiations and pre-2026 posturing, environmentalists like Stauss and his colleagues at Glen Canyon Institute are arguing for a future which cuts out a need for Lake Powell entirely – decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam and storing Powell’s water in other reservoirs.

In the meantime, Stauss relished the brief glimpse at what that might look like.

“It’s a scary future for water in the West,” he said. “But as far as Glen Canyon goes, it’s a pretty amazing silver lining.”

This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River, produced by KUNC, and supported by the Walton Family Foundation.

The post At Lake Powell, record low water levels reveal an ‘amazing silver lining’ appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Examining Puebloan peoples’ responses to environmental change and growing agriculture can inform modern conservation efforts, but it still may not be enough.

Watering the desert

The Colorado River has brought life to an arid land for millennia. It’s not the largest river in the United States but its continuous and persistent flow has irrigated the desert, carved canyons, and provided life to countless millions of humans across the ages.

Native Americans used its life-giving properties to survive for thousands of years, construct vast cities, and grow crops in the Southwest desert long before the arrival of any Europeans. Numerous Native American nations have called the river home and used the geographical features the river has created as markers on the land, showing them sacred spaces, guiding migrations, and observing seasonal transitions. For many of them, the land and their people are inseparable. The story of the Colorado and its surrounding tributaries, vast landscapes, and otherworldly canyons is directly tied to their history, memories, and identity.

We must be careful not to fall into the racist trope of the pristine wilderness and “noble savage” that has plagued European thought well before Jean-Jacques Rousseau ever coined the term. Native Americans used resources to their advantage, building empires and vast networks spanning the continent. The Pueblo were one of the most successful groups to do so.

For countless generations the Colorado River has been used as a mercurial yet constant source of water for the mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that lived here. There is some truth to the fact that the original inhabitants of this continent do have a deeper connection to the land and the water that runs through it. Unfortunately, when white settlement reached this region they did not respect it as it deserved. Failing to understand the long history of ebbs and flows, times of abundance and times of scarcity, and the sustainable ways to survive off water in the desert has led to some of the modern issues surrounding the use of the Colorado’s water today.

The story of the overuse of the Colorado River has its origins in farming. Around 9,000 years ago a small wild plant called teosinte, commonly found in Mexico and Central America, was ingeniously domesticated. Mexico is one of the few places on Earth that archaeologists and botanists have determined agriculture independently arose. Mesoamericans relied on this plant to supplement the gathered crops and hunted animals for food. Over time and with direct human involvement, teosinte transformed into maize, or corn.

Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, USA. The Colorado river behind the dam, surrounding by red rocks, desert, and mountain. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

The power of agriculture did not reveal itself immediately. Most hunter-gatherers did not make an immediate or dramatic transition to farming. From China to Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica, people likely used crops to supplement other wild food sources, becoming increasingly reliant on growing their own food as opposed to gathering it. This transition reduced the mobility of early farming groups. They could no longer pack up and leave land easily after investing time, energy, and hope into farming.

Settled life led to an increased population. Hunter gatherers have lower fertility rates than agriculturalists, possibly because multiple young children can be cared for at once in a farming community whereas carrying multiple small children across vast terrain is much more difficult.

Crop surpluses from farmed plants necessitated storage, ownership, and distribution of food to ensure the community’s survival through the seasons. It eventually meant that not every member of society had to hunt or gather. This allowed the formation of power hierarchies and classes not seen in mobile societies, which are inherently more egalitarian. We see the rise of monumental architecture, permanent cities, and population increases in regions where farming developed.

Maize in the Four Corners

Maize, or corn, agriculture spread slowly from southern Mexico up through the Southwest into the Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. The Pueblo people living in the northeast corner of this area, including southern Colorado, became expert desert farmers. “Histories of Maize” by John Staller, Robert Tykot, and Bruce Benz compiles evidence of this transition via pottery, architecture, and oral traditions. Puebloans constructed “great houses”, likely to store excess food and seeds in case of crop failures. The unknowable nature of rainfall may have propagated the rise of new classes of priests and belief systems. By 900 A.D. the Pueblo peoples had built incredible cities, established vast trade routes, and brought agriculture to the desert.

Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

“Pueblo” means home in Spanish. Today many people have an idea of what a pueblo looks like, but in fact the wattle and daub adobe buildings that the word conjures up would not appear until much later on. The first structures to be identified were called pit houses — half underground, half above ground. These homes used the natural cooling properties of being partly underground to create comfortable living spaces. “Kivas,” large circular ceremonial buildings, soon appeared in the archaeological record. The size of settlements gradually increased over time, with “great kivas” reaching up to 65 feet in diameter.

One of the first human developments to place a strain on the natural resources in this region was Chaco Canyon. Chaco Canyon, in what is now New Mexico, features twelve massive complexes, the largest of which was over five stories tall with hundreds of rooms. An archaeologist once quipped that Pueblo Bonito, the largest building in Chaco Canyon, was only surpassed in size once New York City constructed its massive tenement housing in the late 1800s.

Evidence of intricate pipe networks, massive storage units, and countless cobs of corn points towards an agricultural and architectural explosion. We do not know how many people lived here full time. It was likely a ceremonial center full of symbolism. Road networks emanated from the canyon, spanning hundreds of miles across the terrain. Some roads paralleled each other and some ended not long after they beain. These roads may be symbolic entryways of different groups of Pueblo peoples into what is known as the Chaco system. As corn production grew, so did the influence, size, and power of this central storage city. Entire mountains may have been deforested to construct the great buildings in Chaco Canyon.

In the epic book “One Vast Winter Count,” Colin G. Calloway states, “Between about 900 and 1150 the people of Chaco built a dozen towns, or ‘great houses,’ and scores of small settlements. They used at least two hundred thousand timbers in these construction projects.” Calloway adds, “Tree-ring-dating techniques applied to the beams allow archaeologists to establish detailed chronologies of construction.”

More and more innovative and complex ways to sustain this settlement are seen in the archaeological record. Controlling water became important. Calloway informs us that “Chacoans also built dams, ditches, canals, and reservoirs to collect water and transport it to their fields.” Strategies we use on the Colorado River today were pioneered over a thousand years ago. However, it did not last forever.

Colorado River, Lake Powell and Trachyte Canyon looking down aerial view from above – Bird’s eye view Colorado River, Utah, USA. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Geography or history?

By the time European settlers arrived, Chaco had been abandoned for centuries. The numerous trees used to construct the canyon also tell a grave tale. Using tree rings as biological evidence, scholars are able to estimate when these buildings were constructed but also reveal that persistent drought struck this region in the mid 1100s. Calloway explains, “Prayers for rain went unanswered, and drought gripped the region for several years. Tree rings show that drought struck the San Juan Basin in 1130 and persisted until about 1180.” Maize-based agriculture continued to flourish in areas further south like Mexico, but Calloway adds, “Farmers who had extended their communities and fields to areas where soil and growing conditions were marginal for corn cultivation were hard hit.”

What our modern minds conceive of as catastrophe may not have been perceived as such by the Puebloans who built Chaco Canyon. We actually see populations rise after Chaco fell. It seems the Pueblo peoples adapted to the overuse of resources in one area by fanning out, building numerous smaller settlements and not over-straining the canyon that had once been the center of their world. Instead, the inhabitants likely realized that incorporating elements of hunting and gathering, living in less dense settlements, and allowing the land to recover from deforestation and overuse of water was the solution to environmental degradation.

“There is little evidence of people fleeing their homes in blind panic and clear evidence of planned movements. People made choices based on the alternatives available; they knew where they were going and why,” Calloway writes.

“There is little evidence of people fleeing their homes in blind panic and clear evidence of planned movements. People made choices based on the alternatives available; they knew where they were going and why.”

Drought, crop failures, and other environmental factors have played an incredibly important role in shaping human history, yet we would rarely say something like the Roman Empire fell solely because of drought. Historians also point to forced movements of populations and political instability as reasons empires fall. This narrative helps reinforce human agency but reduces the role of geography and climate.

Farming is shown to have spread at a much faster rate in the Old World compared to the Americas likely because of the orientation of the landmasses. It is easier for crops and animals to be transported laterally, across a wide continent, because the climate does not vary as much along latitude as it does longitude. The shift in climate from the heart of Mexico to the mountains in Colorado is much greater than the shift from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the western side. Similar climate and geography facilitate the spread of farming and animals, but it does not determine the course of history.

Taking things too far the other way, stating that geography is the reason why humans developed the way they did, is also a known fallacy experts call “geographical determinism.” The popular book “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies” by Jared Diamond has been accused of this. Somewhere between the constraints of geography and human agency lies our history.

Adapting to the reality of prolonged drought, the Pueblo peoples created new survival strategies. Although evidence of warfare and destruction does not exist in Chaco, across the Four Corners we start to see a dramatic shift in architecture. Pit houses and great houses gave way to cliff dwellings located at staggering heights on mountain faces. Defensive settlements, like Mesa Verde, developed as the main architectural features. Stone watchtowers and rock art demonstrate an increase in violence. New peoples, also affected by widespread environmental change, appeared in the region.

Although drought occurs regularly in the Colorado River’s past, today’s challenges are vastly more complicated in that humans are causing global climate change. The Puebloans reacted to overuse of water in a drought by changing their ways. Today’s challenge is deeper than a local, regional, or even continent-wide drought.

“A monument to man’s arrogance”

The first white settlers to lay eyes on Chaco Canyon were themselves less than one hundred years away from their own water crisis. Abandoned cities in the desert could have served as a warning sign that water availability and precious resources can and will change course.

American settlers and farmers also recognized the importance of the Colorado River to their development plans. By the 1880s this new wave of settlement was becoming more and more reliant on the river’s water to sustain their farms. Increased water use led to disputes over who has rights to access the river’s flow. In 1922 negotiations began among the several states that depend on the river. In a shortsighted and cruel twist of fate, the water allocations agreed to during the Colorado River Compact were unsustainable from the start.

“It’s now known that the years on which the original estimates were based on, in the early twentieth century, were the wettest since the 1400s,” writes David Owen in his book about the Colorado River, “Where the Water Goes.”

“It’s now known that the years on which the original estimates were based on, in the early twentieth century, were the wettest since the 1400s.”

Regulators, land-owners, and politicians were basing their decisions off of incredibly recent history, with little to no understanding of lessons from the deep past. The fact that the Colorado River had not been that full in over 600 years — and that the river has a history of fluctuating quite a bit — never played a role in that early decision-making process.

The term “paper water” is used to refer to water allocations that exceed the actual flow of the Colorado River. Today more water is legally granted for use than actually exists. Arid megapolises like Las Vegas and Los Angeles can only thrive because of the Colorado River’s series of dams, canals, and reservoirs.

“It supplies water to more than 36 million people, including residents not just of Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs, but also of Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, and Los Angeles … it irrigates close to six million acres of farmland,” Owen states, yet the water use is unsustainable, and our modern society is highly unlikely to be able to adapt to changes the way the Pueblo peoples did. We also face a globe that has been altered, almost irreparably, by industrialization and population growth on a scale nearly unimaginable just a hundred years ago.

Recent news of shrinking reservoirs outside of Las Vegas exposing old mob hits and sunken boats serve as a dire warning that water is running out. Despite recent “atmospheric rivers” hitting California, a series of storms will not solve what is inherently an unsustainable allocation of water resources. It remains to be seen if mega-cities and suburban sprawl can weather the changes that our dramatic climate will throw at them in the not too distant future.

Record low water level of shrinking Lake Mead. The lake is key reservoir along Colorado River. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The past is the future

The Pueblo peoples are still here. Often Native Americans are talked about only in the past tense, as a relic of older times. This could not be further from the truth. Lessons from those who still live on the land of their ancestors cannot be ignored.

Efforts to return the management of land back to Native American groups have grown in popularity in recent years. These programs are an attempt to return stewardship of land, animals, and precious resources like water to people with a long history of adapting to them. It won’t be enough to solve the Colorado River water crisis on its own, however. Overpopulation and global climate change have driven water usage in the West to epidemic proportions that ancestral Pueblo would have never imagined.

The history of the Pueblo farming the Southwest desert is ultimately one of success, adaptation, and realizing the carrying capacity of nature when living in harsh, arid environments. To look towards our future we must consider the deep past. Architecture that takes advantage of natural heating and cooling properties can reduce energy consumption. Basing new development in the West on actual flowing water, not paper water, will have dramatic effects but may ultimately be necessary. Today we also have to contend with forces like political corruption via oil and gas companies, unrestricted pollution by the military which has a massive presence in this part of the nation, and the sheer scale of damage already wrought by globalization and industrialization. There are lessons to learn from the Puebloans of the past and the Puebloans of today, but we as a society must be willing to make herculean efforts and rethink what success means in order to cope with a changing landscape.

The history of the Pueblo farming the Southwest desert is ultimately one of success, adaptation, and realizing the carrying capacity of nature when living in harsh, arid environments.

Where has all the water gone?

1. Drought has always played a role in who can live in the West, we have entered uncharted new heights with population growth and urban development 
2. The Colorado River was at its highest point in centuries when an agreement to divide up the waters was signed in the 1920s
3. The series of dams, reservoirs, and canals built in the 20th Century allowed more development West of the Rockies
4. Major cities in arid regions, like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, are users of the Colorado River’s waters
5. There is now more water allocated to use than actually exists in the River itself 
6. The River no longer flows into the ocean, it depletes itself somewhere near the Mexico border

When Systems Fail

1. The Pueblo adapted to drought by dispersing into smaller settlements and shifting reliance away from agriculture
2. The entire modern West runs on Colorado River water, from drinking, to irrigation, to use as an energy source
3. If the River dips low enough, intake in crucial dams will drop below functioning level and the dams won’t generate power
4. Massive cutbacks on water usage will be needed, some restrictions are already in place

The post Drought, Famine, Overpopulation, and a Lack of Water: What the Puebloans and the Colorado River Can Teach Us appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

[WORLD]

• Earthquake strikes Turkey killing over 20,000 people. President Erdogan has been heavily criticized for his response to the disaster and has arrested over 100 contractors despite himself being caught on camera bragging about relaxing building codes.
• February 24th marks the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine. Slava Ukraini!
• President Biden makes a surprise visit to war-torn Kyiv in a demonstration of support to the Ukrainian resistance.

[NATIONAL]

• The U.S. military shot down multiple objects attempting to enter North American airspace in wake of a high-profile Chinese balloon making its way across the continent. It probably wasn’t aliens.
• Train that likely should have been labeled as Highly Hazardous derails in East Palestine, Ohio leaking toxic chemicals into the environment killing wildlife and farm animals – with deep concerns for human health as well.
• SNAP benefits to help provide food for those in need during the COVID pandemic have ended on February 28th, many food banks are anticipating increased demand.
• Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 16 years in prison for his sex crimes.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for a “national divorce” to separate the Red and Blue states, essentially calling for the dissolution of the United States.

[LOCAL]

• Multiple local schools across the state, including Boulder High, were evacuated after an elaborate fake gun threat.
• Members of Dacono City Council oust long term City Manager A.J. Euckert in a surprise vote during the February 13th meeting. 
• Black farmers in Aurora County have been stalked and harassed by their neighbors in what is believed to be a racially motivated community effort to drive them off their land.
• Pueblo County Sheriff’s sued for the wrongful death of Richard Ward, who was killed while he was with family picking up his little brother from middle school.
• Boulder County law enforcement used money from opioid settlements to purchase controversial surveillance equipment.
• CBS News report reveals a New York-based hedge fund has been buying Colorado River water rights over the last five years, sparking debate over who should have access to limited river resources.
• Adam Frisch announces he will run to unseat Lauren Boebert, Colorado’s national embarrassment, in 2024.

Small Talk

“The time is now for Democrats to take the lead when it comes to fulfilling our promise to create safer communities and pass real solutions that will cut down on gun violence in our communities today.” – Colorado Senate President Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder) affirmed while introducing four new gun safety bills

“The physics of the air in our buildings and the climate in which we live affect things that can make us sick and how long they persist. Now we have conservative indications of how long coronaviruses like the one that causes COVID-19 can stick around in the air and be an infectious disease threat.” – Professor of Engineering Mark Hernandez said about CU Boulder’s research on airborne diseases

“The commissioners’ decision to approve these new positions is a first step in building the capacity required to advance our wildfire mitigation efforts.” – Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy on adding twelve new wildfire mitigation staff positions

“[We need] more flexible zoning to allow more housing, streamlined regulations that cut through red tape, expedited approval processes for projects like modular housing, sustainable development, and more building in transit-oriented communities.” – Governor Polis on Colorado’s efforts to create more walkable cities

By the Numbers:

The post Month in Review | March 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Heather Sackett
Aspen Journalism (AP Storyshare)

Water managers in Western Colorado are helping to shape a water conservation program with policies they say are aimed at protecting water users.

Last week, board members of the Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District unanimously approved criteria that the organization will use to evaluate applications for the System Conservation Program.

To gain approval from the River District — whose mission is to protect, conserve, use and develop water in the 15 Western Slope counties that it covers — an applicant must be a farm operator, not just a landowner. And the entire payment must go to the farm operator — an increase from the 40% of the payment the River District initially proposed.

This is intended, in part, to prevent a situation where a landowner enters their acres in the fallowing program, leaving a tenant farmer with no land to farm and the resultant loss of their livelihood.

“This is a fairly simple situation where it would just be paid to the farm operator and we stay out of the contractual relationship between the owner and the farm operator,” said River District General Manager Andy Mueller.

The policy also says that no more than 30% of the irrigated land in any one sub-basin and no more than 30% or 240 acres, whichever is less, of land owned by a single entity or person shall be fallowed in any given year. For small farm operations with less than 100 irrigated acres, participants can fallow up to 50% of their land.

In December, the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC) announced details of a restarted System Conservation Program (SCP) that aims to lessen the impacts of drought and to boost depleted reservoirs by paying Colorado River water users in the upper basin states (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming) to cut back.

The program initially ran from 2015 to 2018, saving about 47,000 acre-feet of water at a cost of about $8.6 million. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land to a depth of one foot.

Applications for the 2023 program will have to be approved by the UCRC, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and, for those within its boundaries, the River District.

The SCP will be funded with $125 million of federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and proposes to pay water users a starting price of $150 per acre-foot of saved water.

The rebooted program is one arm of the UCRC’s 5-Point Plan, released in July, which is aimed at protecting critical elevations at the nation’s two largest reservoirs: Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

Fueled by a two-decade drought and climate change, the reservoirs have fallen to historically low levels, threatening the ability to make hydroelectric power at the dams.

The Grand River Diversion Dam, also known as the “Roller Dam”, was built in 1913 to divert water from the Colorado River to the Government Highline Canal, which farmers use to irrigate their lands in the Grand Valley. Water Asset Management owns land irrigated by the water in this canal. Photo courtesy of Aspen Journalism.

Grand Valley Water Users Association proposes alternative framework

The Grand Valley Water Users Association (GVWUA) is rejecting the concept of paying farmers based on an amount of unused water, even as the association’s board voted to participate in the rebooted program. Instead, the association is proposing to pay farmers for each acre they take out of production, thereby tying the payments to the land.

According to an information sheet for water users, “cooperators” would get $1,306 for each acre fallowed for the entire 2023 irrigation season. Fallowing from the beginning of the season through Sept. 30 would get $1,237 per acre; fallowing through Aug. 31 would get $1,073 per acre; and fallowing just through the summer season, from May 15 to Aug. 31, would get $686 per acre.

“We are really hesitant on anything that would make it appear we are removing that water right from the land or even using verbiage that hints at that,” GVWUA General Manager Tina Bergonzini said. “The way we put it in our application (to the UCRC) is we would be requesting a certain amount of money per acre that’s not farmed. We basically are telling them: We are not accepting your $150 per acre-foot; we are basing it on per acre.”

A maximum of 1,000 acres of the association’s roughly 24,000 would be enrolled in this year’s program and farmers would have to go through GVWUA; they cannot submit applications on their own. If the applications total more than 1,000 acres, the association will hold a drawing to choose participants.

Applicants must meet the definition of “actively engaged in farming” as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency and be farming a minimum of 30 irrigated acres within the GVWUA service area. There is a minimum of 15 acres and maximum of 240 acres that one applicant can enroll, and enrolled acreage cannot exceed 50% of the applicant’s acreage.

The GVWUA application must be approved by the UCRC, the CWCB and the River District before its proposed program is implemented.

The Grand Valley, where the 55-mile-long Government Highline Canal snakes through farmland, turning the desert green, has been ground zero in recent years for discussions about water conservation and the speculation concerns that come with it. New York City-based private equity firm Water Asset Management (WAM) has been acquiring land in the Grand Valley and fueling fear that speculative outside investors could be seeking to profit from Colorado’s water.

Bergonzini said that WAM’s farmers, who she said irrigate around 1,200 acres of GVWUA system lands, are invited to apply for the program through the association just like any other water user.

She said the issue of whether GVWUA should participate in SCP was contentious and the nine-voting-member board was split 5-4 in favor.

Fruita farmer and GVWUA board member Tom Wood voted against participation because he said the tight timeline doesn’t give water users enough time to plan for this irrigation season. Wood said he participated in the original pilot program but is undecided if he will do so this time.

“It’s not that I’m against the program,” he said. “I just didn’t think the timing was right for this year. If people are going to participate, they probably need a little more time to consider their cropping sequence.”

The deadline for applications, originally set for Feb. 1, has been extended to March 1.

This irrigated field in the Grand Valley is made green with Colorado River water. Upper Colorado River basin officials are restarting a program that will pay irrigators to conserve water. Photo courtesy of Aspen Journalism.

Bringing balance to the river

The Grand Valley is well positioned for a water conservation program because water left in the river at this location near the state line is almost certain to reach Lake Powell; there are few major diversions between there and the nation’s second-largest reservoir.

But water managers caution that using SCP to boost water levels in Lake Powell is not a guarantee. Unlike the much-studied and conceptually similar “demand management” program, SCP does not have a dedicated pool in Lake Powell for the upper basin states to store water and there is no mechanism to “shepherd” conserved water past downstream users and into depleted reservoirs.

Any water saved by Western Slope water users will probably end up being used by the lower basin states (California, Arizona and Nevada) instead of bolstering reservoirs, Mueller said. He said just because the River District has created a policy for approving SCP applications doesn’t mean it endorses the program.

“I don’t think that it’s a well-designed program to actually achieve the stated goal, which is to assist in bringing balance to the river,” Mueller said. “Any water produced under system conservation — to the extent it makes it past your neighbor’s headgates and makes it into Lake Powell — is going to get sucked right through the Glen Canyon Dam and into Mead and right through Hoover and on to some lawn or swimming pool in Southern California or Arizona. And I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

Upper basin water managers have called on the lower basin states to bear the brunt of the cuts needed to sustain the system, given that the lower basin regularly uses its full annual appropriation of Colorado River water, while the upper basin uses far less overall.

Bergonzini said it’s not up to GVWUA to fix a problem they didn’t create. But she said the association stands in solidarity with the state of Colorado and the UCRC on the 5-Point Plan.

“We are trying to show the state we have their back in negotiations with the lower basin to try to come to a conclusion that supports some stability in the Colorado River,” she said. “That’s the biggest reason why we are doing this.”

Aspen Journalism covers water and rivers in collaboration with The Aspen Times. For more information, go to www.aspenjournalism.org.

The post Water managers set criteria for conservation program participation appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Eric Galatas, Public News Service (AP Storyshare)

As Colorado River Basin states grapple with ways to keep a river more than 40 million people, agriculture and industry depend on flowing, Wall Street is tapping water scarcity to deliver steep profits.

Gary Wockner, director of the group Save the Colorado, said hedge funds and other investors have acquired key parcels of land with water rights. In the early 2000s, Wockner pointed out, you could buy Colorado River water for about $8,000 dollars per acre foot. Last year, an acre foot was selling for $80,000 dollars.

“Over a 20-year period, it went up 1,000% in price,” Wockner noted. “That’s 50% per year, and that’s a pretty good profit, no matter what you’re investing in. And this is going on throughout the southwest United States.”

A recent CBS News report revealed New York-based hedge fund Water Asset Management, whose president once called U.S. water “a trillion-dollar market opportunity,” has invested $20 million in western lands over the last five years. The company, for its part, said its investments work to ensure supplies of quality water.

Wockner cautioned efforts to parlay water rights to command higher prices from southwestern cities whose populations continue to swell will likely continue, unless federal or state governments intervene. He emphasized the incentive to remove water, combined with a 23-year-old drought and climate change, has put the long-term health of the river at great risk.

“There’s been less and less water in the river, so we’re seeing dramatic negative impacts to the ecological health of the river itself,” Wockner stressed. “Fish species are being impacted. Riparian habitat, wildlife habitat, wetlands, et cetera, they’re all being impacted.”

Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — recently submitted a proposal for ways to keep reservoirs from bottoming out. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is expected to release new rules this summer for dealing with shortages.

Wockner believes the role of government should not only be to ensure specific batches of water are delivered through the Colorado River to customers.

“But also to protect the public health and the environment,” Wockner asserted. “The government’s role isn’t to find a way for investors and wildly rich people to make more and more money off of Colorado River water.”

References: Water rights CBS News 01/31/2023 | Proposal Ariz./Colo./Nev./N.M./Utah/Wyo. 01/31/2023

The post Wall Street Sees Profits in Dropping Colorado River Levels appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Horses at 287 and Jasper, Erie, CO. Photo credit: Carrie Dowdy

[WORLD]

• Meta’s advertising practices of collecting personal data has been ruled illegal in the European Union, incurring a fine of over $400 million.
• Greta Thunberg was carried away by German police at a climate protest while attempting to protect against the expansion of coal mining into a traditional German village.
• The Chinese Communist Party lifted its heavy travel restrictions pertaining to the Covid pandemic just in time for Lunar New Years, the largest travel holiday for the nation.

[NATIONAL]

• Five Memphis police officers were fired and charged with murder and a sixth placed on leave in the brazen murder of 29-year old Tyre Nichol. Beaten like a “human pinata” is how the Nichol’s family lawyers described the fatal attack. The unit the officers were part of has been disbanded as well. 
• Calls continue for freshman Republican George Santos to resign amid incredible accusations of multitudes of lies. It seems he has lied about nearly every stage of his life, including his schooling, his family, his career, and even his name.
• Classified documents found by President Biden’s legal team at the President’s properties warrant the appointment of a Special Counsel to review. 
• Not the only former President under scrutiny for mishandling paperwork, classified documents have also been found in former Vice President Mike Pence’s possession raising questions on how material like this is handled when officials leave office. 
• The debate over the United States’ debt ceiling once again reawakens amid fear of partisan bickering and a divided government. Look for this to be used as a political tool in the coming weeks.
• According to the White House, the coronavirus public health emergency will end in May, signaling a shift in policy and perception pertaining to Covid.
• Ronna McDonald wins the RNC chair race for her fourth term. She is the longest serving RNC chair in centuries. 
• Actor Alec Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico relating to a firearms death on set of the movie “Rust” which he was also producing. 

[LOCAL]

• CU Boulder student Patrick Scott Durham is expelled for having ties to neo-Nazi group Patriot Front, as investigated by the CU Independent and the Colorado Springs Anti Fascist group.
• Two new members are finally confirmed to the The Boulder Police Oversight Panel, Lisa Sweeney-Miran and Sam Zhang. The pair both advocate for more effective oversight and changes in the way we think of policing and were opposed by pro-police organizations.
• An Aurora police officer is charged with third degree assault after Aurora sheriffs were called in response to the off-duty officer allegedly punching a disabled woman.
• Although six of the seven states that the Colorado River flows through have agreed to a water usage restriction proposal, California, the largest consumer, has failed to sign on. They are now forging ahead with their own proposal for the Federal government. 
• Investigators do not find enough evidence to implicate former Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Justin Nathan Coats, but state that he created a “dysfunctional and toxic” work environment during his time including an attempt to bribe an employee so she would not reveal dozens of sexual misconduct allegations in the department. 
• The Carlson 1-24 oil and gas site in Broomfield has been abandoned, environmentally tested, and re-seeded with native Colorado grass in order to incorporate the site into the Markel Open Space, reversing the typical trend of destroying nature to dig a well.
• Lorena Garcia, previous U.S. Senate Candidate, is chosen in the first round of voting to fill the vacancy in the Colorado House of Representatives after the resignation of representative Adrienne Benavidez.
• City of Thornton joins a growing lawsuit against companies that produced “forever chemicals” called PFAS which have since entered the town’s drinking water.

Small Talk

“This peaceful continuation of power must never be taken for granted. Our mandate from the people of Colorado is to lead the Colorado way. It’s not about the brand of our politics, it’s about solutions.” – Governor Polis at his January 10th, 20223 inauguration.

“Colorado is not and has never been a sanctuary state and the governor is not focused on buzzwords” – spokesperson for Governor Polis states in regards to Colorado accepting more migrants in December.

“This young man lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop.” – Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, attorneys for Tyre Nichol’s family

“Humans have a basic cognitive need to categorize and simplify the world around them. And some lawyers use a prospective juror’s race or gender as a proxy for their ability to serve on a jury, in reliance on stereotypes.” – Ann M. Roan, Boulder-based criminal defense attorney regarding Senate Bill 128’s attempt to rectify racial bias in the justice system. 

By the Numbers

The post Month in Review | February 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Lake Powell at Wahweap Marina as seen in December 2021. The Upper Colorado River Commission’s 5-Point Plan is aimed at protecting Colorado Storage Project infrastructure like Lake Powell, where low water levels are threatening hydropower production. Photo courtesy of Aspen Journalism.

By Heather Sackett, Aspen Journalism (AP Storyshare)

Upper Colorado River basin officials have released details of a conservation program that would pay water users to reduce their use of Colorado River water, with the goal of implementing it as soon as this summer.

In July the Upper Colorado River Commission released its 5-Point Plan, designed to protect critical elevations at the nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The first action listed in that plan was to restart the System Conservation Pilot Program, which ran from 2015 to 2018 and paid water users to cut back.

The SCPP reboot comes with $125 million of federal funding through 2026, but no target for an amount of water to be saved through the temporary and voluntary program. The money comes from the $4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for Colorado River projects.

The goal would be to reduce Colorado River use and mitigate the impacts of long-term drought and depleted storage, not to guarantee a certain amount of water makes it to any particular reservoir, said UCRC Executive Director Chuck Cullom.

“Anyone who is proposing or providing any sort of estimate about what this program might yield is engaging in wild speculation given the water stress that all the Colorado River water users are suffering in the upper basin,” Cullom said. “Even though we have a significant financial resource available it’s unclear to me how many people will be able to subscribe to the program.”

The SCPP is open to Colorado River water users in the four upper basin states — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico — who can demonstrate they have a project that can reduce their water use. That could include farmers, ranchers, cities, tribes, irrigation districts or industrial users.

The UCRC will unveil a request for proposals at its meeting at the annual Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas on Dec. 14. Proposals will be reviewed by the UCRC and upper basin states, and the commission plans to award contracts in March to begin conserving water during the 2023 irrigation season. The UCRC posted a template for a program implementation agreement to its website on Friday.

It’s not yet clear how much the program would pay per acre-foot; Cullom said that information would be in the RFP. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land to a depth of one foot. One acre-foot can supply one to two families per year.

The UCRC will set a minimum price, but applicants can propose a higher rate if they believe they should be compensated more, Cullom said. Officials will also be on the lookout for those hoping to unfairly profit from the program, which has been a longtime concern of these types of water savings programs.

“If you propose more, we are going to scrutinize,” Cullom said. “We don’t intend to overpay for the resource and we will look very carefully at proposals that are clearly speculative.”

The 5-Point Plan is the upper basin’s response to a call from U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton in June for 2 to 4 million acre-feet of conservation. Climate change and a two-decade mega-drought continue to rob the Colorado River and its tributaries of streamflows. Reservoirs Powell and Mead are at historically low levels, threatening the dams’ ability to produce hydroelectric power. As of this week, Lake Powell was only about 24% full.

Upper basin water managers have been quick to point out that water use is much higher in the lower basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — and therefore, that’s where the majority of water savings should come from.

“We are not at fault for the situation the river is in, but we can be part of the solution,” said Colorado commissioner to the UCRC Rebecca Mitchell. “We have tried to move as expeditiously as possible.”

This irrigated field in the Grand Valley is made green with Colorado River water. Upper Colorado River basin officials are restarting a program that could pay irrigators to conserve water. Photo courtesy of Aspen Journalism.

Program concerns

General Manager of the Durango-based Southwestern Water Conservation District Steve Wolf said he had concerns about the program. He said he has been talking with state officials about having more local oversight of projects that apply to participate in the SCPP. Ideally, his districts and others like it, such as the Glenwood Springs-based Colorado River Water Conservation District, would get to veto projects or at least review and comment on them, he said.

“We are hoping to get a few more protections for West Slope water users wrapped into the program before it actually is activated,” Wolf said. “I am fully supportive of an individual being able to do what they want with their water rights but from where I sit, I need to make sure that action does not impact other water users, so I want some sort of oversight rule.”

One of the largest water users in western Colorado, the Grand Valley Water Users Association, participated in the original SCPP. The valley has also been the site of many of the recent speculation concerns by Colorado lawmakers and others.

The renewed SCPP is different from an upper basin demand management program, something the UCRC is studying and to which the state of Colorado devoted more than two years and nine workgroups as part of its feasibility investigation. The 2019 Drought Contingency Plan created the framework for a demand management program: a 500,000 acre-foot pool in Lake Powell in which the upper basin states could store water saved as part of a voluntary, temporary and compensated program that pays water users to cut back with the aim of meeting water delivery obligations to the lower basin.

The results of the UCRC’s study on demand management is on the agenda for its Dec. 14 meeting.

Cullom said a measure of success for the reinstated SCPP is not how much water is conserved. The original program saved about 47,000 acre-feet of water at a cost of about $8.6 million over the four years.

“My measure of success is that we have an open, transparent process,” he said. “I would like to see broad participation in terms of sectors — agriculture, municipal, industrial, tribal — and that at the end the participants are satisfied with how the program went. The volumes (of water) are going to sort themselves out.”

Aspen Journalism covers water and rivers in collaboration with The Aspen Times. For more go to www.aspenjournalism.org.

The post Upper Colorado River officials release details of water savings program appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Courtesy of 350 Colorado

Join us to get involved in the #StopUintaBasinRailway Day of Action and advocate against a potential disaster for environmental justice and the climate! The training on November 10th will prepare participants for the Day of Action that will take place on Saturday, December 10th.

REGISTER HERE for the November 10 online event.

The Uinta Basin Railway will transport crude oil from the Uinta Basin in Utah to refineries on the Gulf Coast, including up to 10 trains per day through Colorado along the Colorado River. The train risks poisonous spills and devastating fires for those communities along its route. It increases the toxic load on people of color living near Gulf Coast refineries, who already experience disproportionate impacts from heavy industrial processes. The oil from this “rolling pipeline” could increase US carbon emissions by 53 million tons, spelling disaster for emissions reduction goals.

Where: REGISTER HERE for this virtual event.

When: Thursday, November 10th 6-8PM

What: At this Day of Action launch and training, you will:

• Learn about the oil train that will cross the United States from Utah to Louisiana, threatening the lives and livelihoods of all who live along its route.
• Get training on how to organize an effective action. 
• Start planning your action and get feedback on your ideas.

Our trainers, Razz and Devon, will share their many years of organizing experience to help you and your local community protest the permitting of the Uinta Basin Railway.

Onward!

Kate, 350 CO

The post #StopUintaBasinRailway Day of Action Kickoff & Training appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Jerd Smith | Fresh Water News (via AP Storyshare)

Eric Whyte, Hay Manager for the Ute Mountain Ute Farm & Ranch Enterprise near Towaoc, Colo., holds a pot that was used to hold water by the Anasazi People in the Four Corners area of Colorado thousands of years ago. The pot was found in a field when work began clearing land for the farm and ranch enterprise. Credit: Dean Krakel, special to Fresh Water News

Colorado and three other Upper Colorado River Basin states have, for the first time in history, embarked on a series of formal meetings to find a way to negotiate jointly with some of the largest owners of Colorado River water rights: tribal communities.

The states, which include New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, began meeting with six tribes several weeks ago, according to Rebecca Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board who also represents Colorado on the Upper Colorado River Basin Commission.

The tribes are the Jicarilla Apache Nation in New Mexico, the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and Utah, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and the Paiute Tribe in Utah, as well as Colorado’s Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, based in Towaoc, and Southern Ute Indian Tribe, whose lands lie in and around Ignacio.

“We have four Upper Basin states and the six Upper Basin tribes, 10 sovereigns, in the room together saying that the table that is set is not the table that works for all, and we are going to create our own table. They are really focused on solutions and being part of the burden and part of the success,” Mitchell said.

The six tribes are among 30 tribal communities in the seven-state Colorado River Basin, which, combined, have paper water rights to roughly 25% to 30% of the river’s flows, more than 3.2 million acre-feet of water.

Source: The Status of Tribal Water Rights in the Colorado River Basin Policy Brief, Water and Tribes Initiative, 2021. Graphic by Chas Chamberlin

The news came Sept. 16 at the Colorado River District’s Annual Seminar in Grand Junction. The river district represents 15 counties on Colorado’s West Slope and is responsible for policy and managing the river within those boundaries.

For more than 100 years, modern water management in the American West has been conducted by the federal and state governments, without formal tribal leaders.

Under Western water law, water has to be measured, its historical use rates certified, and it has to be diverted so that it can be put to beneficial use. Tribal water rights are treated differently. Tribes’ water rights date back to the time when the reservations were created, based on a law that was applied retroactively – many reservations were established before the law existed and so the amount of water they received was never quantified or adjudicated. For this reason, many tribes have had to settle their water rights within the state or states where their reservation lies— some of those negotiations remain unsettled. Many tribes have never measured their water use and, even among those tribes with quantified water rights, many have never had the money to build the dams, pipelines and reservoirs that allow them to put the resource to use.

Roughly 60% of the water the tribes legally possess has never been developed or integrated into the region’s hierarchy of water rights, though they are often some of the oldest, according to tribal estimates.

Daryl Vigil, Jicarilla Apache Nation Water Administrator, said tribal leaders want the federal government to create a new framework to right past wrongs and establish a process for tribes to participate in critical river negotiations.

For too long, he said, “The policy-making process has been left up to the seven basin states and the federal government. We want to speak on behalf of our own water. We’ve heard a whole lot about scarcity and pain,” he told the Grand Junction audience of roughly 400 people. “And we know a whole lot about that. We’re asking, we’re demanding participation because it is a basic human right.”

During the past five years, as the Colorado River has sunk deeper into crisis, the tribes have begun working together and asserting their right to negotiate with federal, state and local water agencies to determine how their water will be used, how badly needed tribal water systems can be built, and how tribes can be fairly compensated for the water that has long been used by others.

Despite increased public pressure to recognize the tribes’ water rights and to include them in critical negotiations and decision-making processes, they continue to be shut out, including in the most recent talks over how to achieve the 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of cuts that U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton ordered back in June in order to keep lakes Mead and Powell operating.

Another set of critical talks set to begin in the near future still has no mechanism for including the tribes. These are talks that will determine how to operate the river well into the future, after the current framework for river operations, known as the 2007 Interim Guidelines, expires at the end of 2026. Tribes were not included in the talks leading up to the 2007 agreement either.

Lorelei Cloud, a member of the Southern Ute Tribal Council, said traditional water users in the Colorado River Basin won’t survive unless tribal waters are legally recognized, developed and put to use by tribes and other users in the basin.

“We are a sovereign government. We should be considered just as a state would be. If you think that we shouldn’t be involved, then don’t include our 30% allocation for anyone else’s use … We need to be included in every one of these conversations. My reservation was established in 1868. We are first in time first in line. You cannot discount us,” she said.

Jerd Smith is editor of Fresh Water News. She can be reached at 720-398-6474, via email at jerd@wateredco.org or @jerd_smith.

Fresh Water News is an independent, nonpartisan news initiative of Water Education Colorado. WEco is funded by multiple donors. Our editorial policy and donor list can be viewed at wateredco.org

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By SEAN NAYLOR, VAIL DAILY (via AP Storyshare)

The generous monsoon season along the Upper Basin of the Colorado River has been a relief to those who remember recent summers suffocated by wildfire smoke in the American West. But according to Brad Udall, senior water and climate research scientist at Colorado State University’s Colorado Water Institute and former director of the Western Water Assessment at the University of Colorado Boulder, the relief we’re feeling now is a sign of bigger problems for years to come.

“Next year’s runoff will be really interesting to see what happens, it will be a test of this theory of depleted soil moisture,” Udall told a packed room at the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens Education Center on Aug. 19. The theory he referenced examines how the recent precipitation affects the trending drought conditions, drying reservoirs and the lowering state of the Colorado River, which is the primary source of water for over 40 million people spread across seven Western states, over thirty Native American tribes and into Mexico.

Udall’s relationship with the Colorado River goes deeper than just the focus of his studies. He grew up along its banks and worked as a river guide in his earlier years. He also comes from a long lineage of family members who have been influential in the river’s management for more than a century. His father, former congressman Mo Udall, fought to channel river water to Arizona. His uncle, Stewart Udall, was the former Secretary of the Interior who opened the Glen Canyon Dam. And his great great grandfather, John D. Lee, established Lees Ferry in Arizona. “Udalls are, in fact, Lees,” he told the crowd.

With a litany of charts, peer-reviewed studies and side-by-side chronological photographs of depleting reservoirs, Udall’s presentation, titled, “Colorado River Crisis: A Collision of 19th Century Water Law, 20tth Century Infrastructure and a 21st Century Population Growth and Climate Change,” broke down the intricacies of the compact that draws the water rights between these states, while establishing the environmental agitators that have formed, and grown, since the compact was agreed upon in 1922.

No longer calling it a ‘drought’

Merriam-Webster defines “drought” as “a period of dryness especially when prolonged.” According to Udall, we are beyond treating the Colorado River crisis as something that will soon pass, or ever will.

“This isn’t a drought, it’s something else,” he said. “Myself and other scientists are trying to use a different term: Aridification.”

Aridification is defined as “the gradual change of a region from a wetter to a drier climate.” According to Udall, it also means “declining snowpacks, it’s earlier runoff, it’s a shorter winter, it’s more rain, less snow, it’s higher temps. It’s drying soils, it’s severe fires, it’s forest mortality, it’s a warm, thirsty atmosphere.”

People make fast work of the fresh powder in China Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018 in Vail. Photo courtesy of Vail Daily

The atmosphere, and the role it plays in our water cycle, is part of the reason for Udall’s skepticism throughout a rainy August.

“This atmosphere, as it warms up it actually wants to hold more moisture. That’s part of also the driving force of why these soils are drier,” Udall said.

Enter rising temperatures, which make soil harder, plants thirstier and standing water evaporate more quickly, and the formula for runoff becomes offset. According to Udall, not only does a hotter climate affect the return we get from our water cycle, but it also explains why flooding can still occur, and even be exacerbated, in drought-stricken areas.

“This warm, thirsty atmosphere is why we get more floods, because when the atmosphere sets up to generate rainfall, it actually has more water vapor in it,” he said.

The extra water vapor is also problematic when calculating snow runoff, which is another issue state climatologists have been trying to decode in the face of shorter winters. “I want to talk about 85 percent of snowpack turning into 30 percent of runoff,” Udall said. “You’d think 85 percent snowpack would turn into 85 percent runoff or 60 percent, it doesn’t anymore … when the snow goes to melt, more of it goes into the atmosphere than runs off into the river.”

“Early season runoff is more nourishing and summer precipitation dries up quickly,” he added, “which is why low runoff in March and April isn’t remedied enough by summer precipitation, though it does help with the next year’s runoff.”

According to Udall, as temperatures rise and aridification evolves, the region will see its deserts grow as its most important river shrinks. “The world’s deserts are about 30 degrees north or 30 degrees south of the equator, this is a known aspect of how our climate system works,” he said. “Basically, we get high pressure that descends over thirty degrees latitude. What we think happens is when the climate warms, that high pressure actually moves upward, so in our case, the desert just to the south of us is moving our way.”

Every trend moving ‘in the wrong direction’

As Udall showed a chart outlining precipitation levels over previous decades, showing its decline in the last 22 years, the occasional sprinkles of rainfall occurring outside during the presentation seemed even less significant.

“2018’s the worst year for Upper Basin precipitation since 1895, 2020 is in the bottom 10, 2021 in the bottom 20 … all these years are really in the low bottoms,” he said. “So, the whole precipitation regime shifted down.”

Udall then factored in the rising temperatures. “Up 3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970 … and importantly, not a single year after 1999 is below the 20th-century average, and we will not see a year below the 20th-century average ever again.”

Brad Udall presents “Colorado River Crisis: A Collision of 19th Century Water Law, 20th Century Infrastructure and a 21st Century Population Growth and Climate Change,” to a packed room at the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens Education Center on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Photo courtesy of Vail Daily

These two trends of low precipitation and high temperatures make the situation along the Colorado River more critical than ever.

“If you took the worst period in the 20th century, the worst 22-year period, if it had only repeated, instead of the 22 years we last got, our reservoirs would be 55% percent full, not 27%. It would be of concern, but it wouldn’t be the crisis that it is,” he said.

While history has repeated itself before, Udall’s presentation suggested to not bet on it. “We’ve got to anticipate flows even lower than what we’ve seen the last 22 years. We didn’t put a number on it, we just said a ‘reasonable worst-case future,’” he said.

‘Let’s see some experiments’

As the water supply from the Colorado River diminishes, the demand continues to grow. Population growth has not only filled the major cities that depend on the river’s water, it has also spurred the rise of new cities along its basin, further complicating the debates over how the water is allocated. “We now need to think about how to turn some of this back … we have no control over the supply, so we have to dial back demand,” Udall said.

While Udall maintains that Colorado has been exemplary in managing its water allocations with heightened efforts in engineering and overall communication, there are lessons to be learned with the innovations that are happening across the basin as a whole.

One crowd member asked about the desalination efforts in California, and Udall acknowledged desalination as “part of the solution, but it’s a tiny part of the solution,” citing efforts from Australia in past decades that have come with their own respective challenges, one of the largest being cost. “Ag(riculture) will never be able to afford it,” he said.

Udall then pointed to the reintroduction of beavers in some places as another potential part of the solution. “There has been some interest in reintroducing beavers to places in the High Country to get these wetlands in place where you store water, and you get these sponges that slowly release water later in the year … whether that would work I don’t know, but it’s another idea along the same lines,” he said.

As for switching to crops that use less water, that, too, comes with its own hurdles. “Crop switching is actually pretty complicated, it needs new agronomic knowledge, new production and marketing, new labor and equipment … you need a collective of people in the same area growing new stuff,” Udall said.

Udall gave mention to Arizona’s use of aqueducts and Las Vegas’ innovative water recycling system, while maintaining those conservation efforts, and a more conscious use of water consumption in our daily lives, are still the best ways to buy more time.

“I just feel like we need to get demand off this system and I’m not sure how to do it with the resources we have,” he said.

A view from the top

Colorado’s Upper basin position will give Coloradans an advantageous view of what works, and what doesn’t work, as lower basin states face more urgent scenarios in years to come.

While speaking to a ski-town crowd, Udall was conscious to address what this crisis means for our favorite winter activity and the industry that surrounds it.

“Here’s the good news for people that live in Colorado: so it’s higher and colder in the mid-continent,” he said. “If you had a ski area in the Sierras right now, when it wants to rain in the winter I’d be worried. Anywhere where you have a maritime climate that’s close to the ocean and it was previously 31 (average degrees) in winter and now its 33, you’ve got a huge problem. Colorado is higher, drier and colder and will remain that way. So these ski areas will do better than ski areas anywhere else. It’s raining in the winter here too — and it shouldn’t be ­— so it’s good news and bad news.”

Udall also has a heightened sense of faith in how Colorado is managing its situation. “In general, Colorado of all the Western states has its act together more than any other state. Why is that? Because our water rights system is slightly different, and for better or worse, we put in place a system that has a whole set of separate water rights codes and attorneys that specifically practice in water and engineers that specifically practice in water … so we have records and data and court decrees, we know where our water is used, who owns it, how it’s used … and in that is a system that at least gives us the data to make good decisions.”

“More than any other state, we are better off … but it’s still not great.”

The post Don’t call it a ‘drought’: Climate scientist Brad Udall views Colorado River crisis as the beginning of aridification appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Colorado River. Photo credit: Gabriel Tovar via Unsplash

By Dave Marston | Writers on the Range (via AP Storyshare)

It seemed inevitable that the dwindling Colorado River would be divvied up by the federal Bureau of Reclamation. On June 14, BuRec gave the seven states in the Colorado River compact just 60 days to find a way to cut their total water usage by up to 4 million acre-feet. No plans emerged.

But surprisingly, BuRec’s August 16 press release imposed no new cuts on states, instead affirming cuts mandated under 2007 and 2019 agreements. Nevada and Mexico took minor losses and Arizona emerged as the first big loser.

BuRec said Arizona must cut 592,000 acre-feet “because of the concession it made back in 1968 to California to get the Central Arizona Project online,” says University of Wyoming law professor Jason Robison. That concession meant the 1.4 million acre-feet capacity of the Central Arizona Project has junior water rights. In a shortage — like now — the Central Arizona Project, except for tribal water rights, could be cut to zero, a blow to cities and agriculture.

Here’s a question the Upper Basin states seem inclined to ask: If the 1922 Colorado River Compact parceling out the river’s water is the law, shouldn’t California face major cuts? After all, California’s huge allotment of 4.4 million acre-feet lately equals the entire consumption of the four Upper Basin states, and its allotment is also junior to almost 1 million acre-feet of tribal water.

Thanks to a 1931 seven-party agreement, California established a pecking order of priority for each of its water users. Massive districts such as Palo Verde and the Imperial Valley Irrigation District have priority over the Metropolitan Water District, which brings drinking water to 19 million people in Los Angeles and Southern California. The state has a structure, but no plan for serious savings.

For the Upper Basin states, says University of Wyoming Law professor Jason Robison, “It’s more nuanced. But there’s significant federal authority to run those (BuRec) Upper Basin reservoirs,” though none are very large.

Where might other water cuts be found? Colorado’s 1876 constitution ranked municipal water over agriculture, making it tough to dry up cities like Colorado Springs or Aurora, even though their water rights are junior. But residents might see incentives for tearing out lawns, along with programs for water reuse and much higher water rates.

In rural Colorado, there isn’t much water available to conserve. The largest irrigation district in the Upper Basin, the 500,000 acre-feet Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association, already took a150,000 acre-feet cut this year because of a light snowpack.

“The runoff just isn’t there,” says General Manager Steve Pope.

Pope, as well as many others in agriculture, views a desert city like Phoenix — which grew on the false promises of reliable water — as an existential threat to farming communities.

“Are we going to water a field that produces some sort of a crop, or do we water a golf course or a median?” asks Pope. “What’s the benefit of a lawn?”

What the federal government can’t touch for now is any Upper Basin irrigation project created before the signing of the Colorado River Compact in 1922. In Colorado, a spreadsheet compiled by the state’s Division of Water Resources tells what projects, by date, risk losing water. Some Western slope irrigators are vulnerable because the water rights they’re using were bought by municipalities only recently, intending them for future growth.

Many Colorado irrigators on private ditches are lucky to have so-called “perfected” rights dating from the late 1800s. To snag water from these irrigators, it’s likely to be all carrot and no stick. But rather than taking payments for not irrigating, says Pope, “we would be more concerned with system efficiency and improvements.”

The Inflation Reduction Act provides $4 billion to Colorado River water users for just this kind of conservation. Meanwhile, Colorado is the only Upper Basin state that seriously tested paying irrigators to fallow their land or reduce irrigation by half. But ceasing to irrigate farms involves risks.

After a couple of dry years hay fields can bounce back, landowners report, but anything more than that leaves bare dirt and dust in the air.

For now, BuRec seems to be following its plans and hoping for the best, which means emergency cuts might be drastic. As John Weisheit of Utah-based Living Rivers sees it, BuRec made a mistake when it told the seven Basin states of the Colorado River to find 2 to 4 million acre-feet to do without.

“The cuts,” he says, “should go even deeper, up to 6 million acre-feet. The need is to that point.”

Dave Marston is the publisher of Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West.

The post Business as usual for the Colorado River appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photo credit: Manolet Santos via Unsplash

By Dave Marston | The Limon Leader / SMH Publications (via AP Storyshare)

Annette Choszczyk lives in rural western Colorado these days, but when she was a kid, the Highline Canal in Denver was her summer paradise.

“To us, it was river and a playground, complete with rope swings, swimming holes, crawdads and a trail alongside it that adults and kids could walk on to the foothills or far out into the prairie.” They always called it a ditch, this 71-mile-long canal that carried water all over Denver.

Throughout the West, thousands of ditches that snake for miles through semi-arid country are nothing less than beloved. They add living green corridors to walk or bike along, impromptu wetlands frequented by birds, and always, a respite from summer heat.

But now a warming climate delivers less melted snow to rivers that supply these diversion ditches with water. Federal legislation also mandates piping many earthen ditches to cut salinity in the Colorado River water that’s sent to Mexico.

The result: Dry trails, disappearing wetlands and the end of a rural and urban amenity.

Many people mourn the loss. “With less water we have to figure out how to try to retain the best of what we value the most,” says John Fleck, a water researcher at the University of New Mexico’s Utton Center. He says the Griego Lateral, in Albuquerque, that he regularly bikes along, was built in 1708, and during the COVID lockdown, the ditch bank was mobbed with bikers and walkers desperate to get outdoors. “There is incredible value in these ditches,” he says.

But Fleck points out that we’re confronted by difficult choices: “How much water do we keep in rivers and which ditches do we save?” Any loss can be painful, and in a blog post, Fleck said simply: “I love living near a ditch.” You could say of Cary Denison, former project coordinator for Trout Unlimited and an irrigator, that he was born in irrigation boots. “In western Colorado, my dad was the superintendent of the Fire Mountain Canal,” he says, “and my first job was irrigating.” These days, though, Denison thinks rivers get shortchanged because too much water gets diverted into ditches.

“Then a river suffers,” he says. “We need to maintain enough water in the river for fish and plant life.”

Dennison recalls a startling moment as he irrigated family property outside of Hotchkiss, Co. The gated 12-inch pipe was clogged, so he and his brother began cleaning it out, expecting a mass of leaves and twigs. But the clog turned out to be the biggest brown trout — “and I fished almost daily,” he says — that he’d ever seen. That fish had come a long way. Their property was nine miles from the diversion where the river was sweeping almost entirely into the ditch.

These days Dennison is an irrigator himself and lives in the town of Ridgway. But he recalls that giant brown trout as “a day where irrigators should have taken less.” The experience led Denison toward his work in conservation: “We need to take only the water from rivers we absolutely need.”

Fleck and other students of the Colorado River see a time coming soon when many water diversions will cease because of their lower priority dates. Some ditches are already dry, as the water gets left in the river for the Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and California. These states share the river equally with the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming, where the river begins and gathers strength.

Over centuries, says Fleck, “one of the things that we’ve done in all these Western landscapes is to narrow the river itself with levees and dams and control it in a narrow channel. And we’ve distributed water across the floodplain through ditches. It’s this huge rich, complex social and cultural ecosystem that we’ve all lived in for hundreds of years.”

But increasing aridity is already changing that pattern. Earlier this summer, Choszczyk, who now lives in western Colorado, mourned the loss of some of her local ditches as they got piped, ending the riparian ribbon that enhanced her neighborhood.

“Generations of children will have poorer childhoods because they will never have a ‘wild’ place along a ditch to explore,” she says.

It’s hard to love a semi-desert once you’ve come to appreciate the wonders that a ditch can bring.

Dave Marston is publisher of Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to lively discussion about the West.

The post Ditches are a vanishing paradise appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Colorado River. Photo credit: Mike Newbry via Unsplash

By Char Miller
The Limon Leader / SMH Publications (via AP Storyshare)

The Colorado River is revealing its secrets. For decades a World War II landing craft lay submerged 200 feet beneath Lake Mead’s surface — but now it’s beached, rusting in the sun. It’s become an unsettling marker of just how vulnerable the river is and how parched the Intermountain West has become.

The immediate impact of what’s being called the most severe mega-drought in 1,200 years, has been sharp cuts in the allocation of water to downstream users, with southern Nevada’s take slashed by seven billion gallons. Then there’s the fear that if Lake Mead’s water levels continue to fall, it may not be able to generate the power it now supplies to 1.3 million people in Nevada, Arizona and California.

Yet the diminished reservoirs tell another tale about the Colorado River, one of the world’s great plumbing systems, which enables downstream agriculture and sends potable water to an estimated 40 million residents. The story is that just where the river ends, at the Gulf of California, it has been slowly coming alive.

For decades, the United States sucked so much water from the Colorado that only a trickle, if that much, ever reached its desiccated, sprawling delta in Mexico. Once covering 9,650 square miles, the delta has shrunk to less than one percent of its original expanse. Human diversions wrung it dry.

It wasn’t always that way. In 1922, conservationist Aldo Leopold wrote about paddling a canoe through the delta’s green lagoons and marveling as “cormorants drove their black prows in quest of skittering mullets” and “mallards, widgeons, and teal sprang skyward in alarm.” When a troop of egrets settled on a far green willow, Leopold said they looked like a “premature snowstorm.”

Leopold’s lyrical vision had the misfortune a century ago of coinciding with the signing of the Colorado Compact, which sealed the delta’s fate. Approved by Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California, the compact quantified the Colorado’s annual flow and set up the seven states to contend with one another to protect, if not expand, their individual shares. The compact turned the delta into a dust bowl.

For decades, environmental and tribal activists and nonprofit organizations protested the devastation that massive diversions to fill the Powell and Mead reservoirs produced in the delta’s once-flourishing human and biological communities. They pushed hard for remedies from both the U.S. and Mexican governments and the river-hugging state legislatures.

It wasn’t until 1993, when Bruce Babbitt became Secretary of the Interior under President Bill Clinton, that the political dynamic changed. Babbitt argued that the states must demonstrate how they intended to operate within their apportioned amount. If they failed to do so, he said, he would not approve surplus water, a threat particularly aimed at California, which routinely commandeered any surplus flow the other states didn’t use.

River activists immediately demanded that some of the water savings should head down to the delta. They got nowhere until 2014, when Mexico and the United States acted on their earlier commitment to sluice more water into the delta’s riparian habitats.

Since then, the two countries have periodically released water to mimic historic seasonal flooding. These tiny pulses of liquid energy, which constitute less than one percent of Los Angeles’ total annual water consumption, have had an outsized impact.

With restoration ecologists to guide the process, some wetlands have revived, small woodlands have flourished and native plants and animals have taken hold. Remote-sensing cameras recently spotted beavers gnawing on cottonwoods.

We don’t know how current drought-management solutions might cripple these recent interventions that brought the tail end of the river to life. Meanwhile, let’s recall Leopold visiting the delta where he watched burbling sandhill cranes circling overhead. The sight brought him joy as it made him feel he was joined with them in the “remote vastness of space and time.” That’s a compelling affirmation that the Colorado River must be kept alive to its very end.

Char Miller is a contributor to Writers on the Range.org, writersontherange.org, a nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is an environmental historian at Pomona College; his upcoming book is Natural Consequences: Intimate Essays for a Planet in Peril.

The post The Colorado River has come alive even as it ebbs appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

By Heather Sackett
Aspen Journalism (via AP Storyshare)

As the deadline approaches for the seven Colorado River basin states to come up with a plan to conserve water, some Colorado water managers are asking what authority the federal government has in the upper basin and which water projects could be at risk of federal action.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton sent water managers scrambling when she announced in June that they had a 60-day window to find another 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water to conserve or the federal government would step in to protect the system. With many reservoirs, transbasin diversion systems and irrigation projects in Colorado tied in one way or another to the Bureau of Reclamation, some are asking if the water in these buckets could be commandeered by the feds to make up the shortfall.

“I think that there’s probably a good argument that the Secretary (of the Interior) has some authority under those projects,” said Eric Kuhn, Colorado River author and former Colorado River Water Conservation District general manager. “The projects on the Western Slope and in the upper basin states that are owned by the federal government and are ultimately under the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, those are the projects at risk.”

Paonia Reservoir, seen here in May 2022, has ties to the Bureau of Reclamation and its stored water is used for irrigation in the North Fork Valley. Some Western Slope water managers say it’s unclear what authority the federal government has over projects like these. Heather Sackett/Aspen Journalism

There are many dams and reservoirs across Colorado that are tied to the Bureau of Reclamation’s 20th century building frenzy to impound water and “reclaim” arid regions through irrigation. On the Western Slope, some of the well-known projects include the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project (Ruedi Reservoir), Dallas Creek Project (Ridgway Reservoir), the Dolores Project (McPhee Reservoir), Paonia Reservoir, the Grand Valley Project, the Silt Project (Rifle Gap Reservoir), the Uncompahgre Project (Taylor Park Reservoir) and more.

In general, the local entities like conservancy districts, irrigators and municipalities who use the water are responsible for repaying the Bureau for the cost of the project. But the infrastructure is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation. Some projects are operated by Reclamation and some are operated by a local entity. Many also have a hydropower component.

“I think each project operator is having to look at their contractual obligations with the Bureau and their attorneys are going back over those with a fine tooth comb to see if the arm of the Bureau can reach up through Lake Powell and into the upper basin states,” said Kathleen Curry, a rancher and Gunnison County representative on the Colorado River Water Conservation District. “All of the upper basin projects are going to need to look real hard at what authority the Bureau has.”

Last year Reclamation made emergency releases out of Blue Mesa, Flaming Gorge and Navajo reservoirs to prop up Lake Powell. In this instance their authority was not questioned since these reservoirs are, along with Lake Powell, the four initial reservoirs of the Colorado River Storage Project. They store what’s called “system water,” which is used specifically to help the upper basin meet its delivery obligations to the lower basin.

The Bureau of Reclamation made emergency releases from Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison County last year to help prop up Lake Powell. Blue Mesa is one of the four initial Colorado River Storage Project reservoirs that contains “system water” specifically used to help the upper basin meet its water delivery obligations to the lower basin. Heather Sackett/Aspen Journalism

But water managers still don’t know exactly what, if anything, Reclamation is allowed to do with the water contained in other reservoirs with Reclamation ties.

At the River District’s third quarterly board meeting in July, board members repeatedly tried to pin down answers from federal and state officials without much luck.

Montrose County representative and state Rep. Marc Catlin asked state engineer Kevin Rein where he stood on whether the Bureau of Reclamation could make reservoirs with Reclamation ties release water downstream to Lake Powell to meet the 2 to 4 million acre-feet conservation goal.

“If the Bureau of Reclamation comes into the state of Colorado and says it wants to move water… down to Lake Powell, what’s the state engineer going to do?” Catlin asked. “Are those water rights under state law or federal law?”

Rein did not know the answer.

“I’m not sure what authority — this is not one of those rhetorical ‘I’m not sure,’ I really am not sure — what authority the Bureau of Reclamation would have to induce a federal project with state water rights to release them to get to Powell,” Rein said.

Later in the meeting, Katrina Grantz, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Colorado Basin Assistant Regional Director, gave a presentation and took questions from board members. Curry asked if changes could be proposed to the operation of projects within the 15 counties represented by the River District with federal ties to get closer to the 2 to 4 million acre-feet. Grantz side-stepped the question.

“At this point we are not looking at specific locations,” she said. “I would turn it around and say: Are there areas where you locally think there might be areas to conserve?”

Lake Powell. Heather Sackett/Aspen Journalism

River District General Counsel Peter Fleming said the authority of the feds in the upper basin is untested. This is partly because the upper basin has dozens of small Reclamation projects as well as thousands of individual water users on private ditch systems that are not affiliated with the federal government. Colorado has generally been left alone to administer this complex system of water rights under the state doctrine of prior appropriation, which means older water rights get first use of the river.

The lower basin, in contrast, has only about 20 diversions — and only six or so big ones — from the Colorado River. And each entity that uses water from Lake Mead has to have a contract with Reclamation, meaning the federal government is directly involved with water deliveries.

“The reason I think these issues are untested is historically the secretary’s role in the upper basin has been different than the secretary’s role in the lower basin,” Fleming said. “It’s much more hands-off. The difference in river administration is huge.”

Fleming said that the River District does not have advice for its water users on the situation, other than to reiterate the upper basin stance that the responsibility to come up with the 2 to 4 million acre-feet lies overwhelmingly with the lower basin.

“At the end of the day I think there will be a big effort to try to resolve things through agreement and I believe the secretary will exercise her authority to the greatest extent she can without triggering litigation,” Fleming said.

Water managers may not have to wait long to get some clarity. The deadline for the states to come up with a conservation plan before the feds take action to protect the system is fast approaching. The upper basin states, through the Upper Colorado River Commission, have put forward a 5 Point Plan, which lays out actions they say are designed to protect the reservoirs.

Amee Andreason, public affairs specialist with the Bureau of Reclamation, said officials may answer the question of federal authority in the upper basin at a media event on Aug. 16 that coincides with the release of the August 24-month study, which lays out reservoir operations for the following water year.

If the feds end up curtailing uses in the lower basin, it could set a precedent that would strengthen the argument that they can do the same in the upper basin, Kuhn said.

“That’s one I think is the elephant in the room,” he said. “The fact that the River District board was asking about authorities tells you people are thinking about it.”

Aspen Journalism is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers water and rivers. For more, go to www.aspenjournalism.org.

The post West Slope water managers ask: What authority do the feds have? Projects with Reclamation ties could be at risk. appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Colorado River Aqueduct

I may be getting these lyrics wrong, but…

WAteR, huh, yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, huhh

So goes the now famous – if appropriated – refrain of Edwin Starr’s classic, “War (What Is It Good For?),” released in 1970. Something else fun about 1970 is that it’s about a decade after the earliest public warnings in the United States about global warming and about a decade before the UK’s broadcast of an hour-long documentary called “Warming Warning” (1981). Exxon had proof of climate change as early as 1977, but apparently suppressed their own study. What does any of this have to do with the very fluid topic at hand?

Water. Huh? Yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely everything. And we’ve been depleting it at ever increasing rates with reckless abandon, the human species-cum-American-default-setting of infinite use of a finite resource.

Let’s start with a startling fact I heard while watching Tapped (2009): “By 2030 two-thirds of the global population will have inadequate access to clean drinking water. This is a problem that everyone will have to deal with no matter where they live.” Comparing water prices to gas prices, the narrator said that, “you can see it’s really going to be the next empire.” And a few minutes later, a Fryeburg, ME, town administrator said, “It kind of reminds me of the Texas oil rush in the 1930s.” He was talking about Nestlé coming to town, but that’s really the same topic.

The current water issues are manifold, and it is more apparent every day that a water war is coming: we’re running out of water and, while there is hope on the horizon, the politicians that are supposed to be protecting our future are not.

“Whiskey is for sipping, water is for fighting” – Mark Twain

Before robust infrastructure – the same infrastructure in decline today – water was more scarce and its uses limited. We’re approaching that world again, even while people are fighting back and demanding better. A Global Strategies Group polling memo circulated by the CO Democratic party “shows strong support from likely, Unaffiliated, and Latino voters for a variety of climate proposals that achieve Colorado’s emission reduction goals… The memo also demonstrates that a political candidate who supports ‘strong government action to combat climate change’ enjoys a 13-point advantage over a candidate who opposes such action.”

The polling found that “Voters overwhelmingly agree that ‘…climate change is already having a serious impact on Colorado,’ and nearly two-thirds of voters want to see their state legislator ‘support strong action this year to combat climate change.’” Another finding is that, “nearly two-thirds of voters support climate proposals … to reduce the pollution that causes climate change,” and that, “by a similarly large margin, voters support proposals that would require utilities to reduce emissions from natural gas and create incentives for lower-emission solutions like weatherization or appliances that run on electricity rather than gas.”

With these facts in mind, we have to ask ourselves why Governor Polis continues to govern on a too little, way too late plan for 100 percent renewable energy implementation by 2040. The science is clear that the goals need to be met by 2030, or we risk global catastrophe. Indeed, we risk the start of the end of our species. Perhaps we will survive in some Mad Max-cum-Waterworld scavenger sense, but it will be the end of human domination of the planet.

The Colorado River Quick Facts:

It supplies water to 40 million people,
irrigates 4.1 million acres of agricultural land,
and provides 5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity,
covering an upper and lower basin that stretches through seven states.

The average annual flow is about 1,400 cubic feet per second.

Does this all sound a bit hyperbolic? I’d say yes, if I hadn’t read the reports. In fact, the CO Department of Natural Resources just reported in November 2020 that, “[a]s severe drought conditions have persisted across 100% of Colorado for over 15 weeks, Governor Jared Polis directed a shift from Phase 2 to Phase 3 (full activation) of the State Drought Mitigation and Response Plan.”

CWCB Director Rebecca Mitchel said, at the time, that the, “Climate outlooks for 2021 indicate that drought conditions are likely to continue into the next year, so it is important that we are proactively thinking about mitigation and that we remain hopeful for strong winter snowpack statewide.” KDVR reported just this past February that, “The current snowpack in the state is at 85 percent of average.” And winter is over. But will the snowpack matter as much as it used to? Arguably more so, because we expect less of it.

“Colorado lawmakers have a critical opportunity this session to pass strong and ambitious policies that get Colorado on track to reach our climate pollution reduction goals and protect Coloradans from the devastating impacts of climate change,” said Erin Overturf, Western Resource Advocates’ Clean Energy Program deputy director.

The science is very clear. A March 2020 study by Chris Milly of the U.S. Geological Survey – Atmospheric Warming, Loss of Snow Cover, and Declining Colorado River Flow – points out that, “Declining snow cover is playing a key role in decreasing the flow of the Colorado River, ‘the lifeblood of the Southwest,’ by enabling increased evaporation. As the warming continues, increasingly severe water shortages are expected.”

Milly and his research partner, Krista A. Dunne, “found that for every degree Celsius of warming, the river’s flow decreases 9.3 percent. Recent studies have confirmed that the river’s steady decreased flow since 2000 is due to rising temperatures. The decline has amounted to 1.5 billion tons of missing water, equal to the annual water consumption of 10 million Americans,” according to EcoWatch.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) Water Plan Technical Update Executive Summary points out that, “Colorado’s water supplies are highly variable, and our demands are growing.” I asked the CWCB about the USGS study, which points out that, “‘severe water shortages’ may follow” if changes aren’t made, but my questions were dismissed. Sara Leonard, Marketing Director for the CWCB, said of the study that, “my team pointed out [it] is from Feb 2020, so likely outdated information.”

Ok, but unless you have newer information, this is the current info. Or does the CWCB not trust USGS science? My follow up questions – “I’d love current info from the state if you have any. Or any official responses to that study? Or plans for remediation? Or a rebuttal to the claims in the study?” – were met with links to information that didn’t answer the query and a suggestion that I reach out to the study authors.

“There is enough water for human need, but not for human greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

The good news is more and more people are getting nervous about the future of water, as indicated in the poll mentioned, and with good reason. “Things seem to be happening even faster than the models or scientists were warning just a few years ago,” says Brad Udall, a water and climate scientist at Colorado State University. “If you’re not worried about all this, you’re not paying attention.”

“Given the uncertainties of future water supply and demand, the CWCB adopted a planning approach that many major water providers across the West use: scenario planning. The use of scenario planning assumes that the future is unknown and provides flexibility in responding to various future conditions.”

“Formulating Plausible Scenarios: Potential changes in future M&I [municipal and industrial] water demand and available water supply were among the most important drivers all of the basin roundtables considered when developing their portfolios.” In my interview with Amy Ostdiek from CWCB, who was chalk full of specifics and information on water use and drought between the upper and lower basin but, when I specifically asked if there was a top step population where the state can no longer handle water demand given supply, I was told, “I’m not sure, but I don’t think anyone’s even thinking about that.”

CWP Planning Scenarios, Key Drivers Graphical Summary

The Nine Drivers that the CWCB uses in their planning, which influence the direction of Colorado’s water future are:

• Population/Economic Growth
• Social/Environmental Values
• Climate Change/Water Supply Availability
• Urban Land Use/Urban Growth Patterns
• Energy Economics/Water Demand
• Level of Regulatory Oversight/Constraint
• Agricultural Economics/Water Demand
• M&I Water Demands
• Availability of Water-Efficient Technologies.

These are not equally weighted ideas. For example, it’s reported that “Colorado expects its irrigated acres to decline in almost every basin by 2050.” Connie Woodhouse, with the University of Arizona College of Letters & Sciences, hosted a virtual talk just a few weeks ago about the Colorado River. She points out, in the first few minutes, that the water crisis is predicated on several factors: the ongoing 20 year drought, a “legacy of allocations that were made a hundred years ago,” and the fact that this is water in an otherwise arid landscape.

I was utterly horrified to hear a quote from John Wesley Powell, a geologist, U.S. soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions, and the second director of the US Geological Survey (died 1902). He surveyed the Colorado, and the land around it, and told a group of farmers in 1893, “there is still not sufficient water to irrigate all this arid region. I tell you, gentlemen, you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights, for there is not sufficient water to supply these arid lands.”

The 1922 Colorado River Compact, which allocated water to the Upper Basin (7.5maf), Lower basin (7.5maf), and to Mexico (1.5maf, starting 1944), for a total of 16.5 million acre feet. Studies to trace stream flow going back to the 1400s left Stockton and Jacoby, the men who did the studies, positive that, “The general picture of a collision between water demand and supply in the UCRB in the not-too-distant future is all too apparent.” That was 1976. Is that debt being called in?

Without serious, worst case scenario planning, and a reduction or elimination of otherwise unnecessary water usage – irrigating crops on arid land and hydraulic fracturing come to mind – we’re on the collision course envisioned back in the 1970’s, again. WAteR, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely everything… and we need to wake up and realize it before it’s too late. At the time of this writing, new reporting says that, “U.S. water officials are projecting the man-made lakes that store water used throughout the American West will fall to historically low levels and trigger an official shortage declaration for the first time” and any “cuts would be implemented in January” 2022.

Joe Salazar, Colorado Rising Executive Director posted on Facebook April 16th, just before noon: “Just a gentle reminder to all those politicians who say, ‘Climate Change is an existential threat.’ That means climate change threatens our existence. Seems almost like a self-evident statement.” Will we take it as such and invest in the policies that safeguard us or continue to act “pragmatically” and plan for hoped for better days?

The post The Coming War for Water: Is Colorado’s Plan for the Lifeblood of Life… Smart? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Some people find happiness at the bottom of a giant bowl of triple fudge ice cream. Others define happiness by the amount of extra zeros on their paycheck. For me, happiness is a cool mountain breeze, the taste of a perfectly roasted marshmallow and the feeling you get when you reach the top of whatever mountain you’re trying to climb.

I love Colorado.

I can’t get enough. I load up my car with campfire grub, hiking and biking gear, and some good ol’ canned craft beer and head west on the weekends. Lately, “west” has meant a long and winding drive on I-70 to the Glenwood Springs area. I’m not sure what it is, but I seem to have found my summer in the red canyons of this sulfurous town.

Last weekend, I found myself soaked in water, helping guide a raft down the Shoshone rapids on the Colorado River. Two weekends ago I was on the seat of my mountain bike, Liv, cruising alongside the Colorado River and soaking in the beauty and stories of the majestic canyon walls.

Although it’s about a three-and-a-half hour drive from the Boulder area to Glenwood Springs, it’s totally worth it for a little weekend vacay. For those of you looking to blow the city limits and climb some mountains of your own, I suggest loading up a car and heading to the land of the hot springs. And while you’re there, you should probably check the following places out:

1.) The Hotel Colorado
Whether you’re staying at this (haunted) hotel or not, be sure to at least tour the main floor and check out all of the portraits and stories of the famous guests that have roamed the grounds before you. And while you’re there, grab a seat on the charming outdoor porch for a nice dinner or a wild west-themed cocktail from the bar. The smell of the fresh mountain air mixed with the old-timey, relaxing atmosphere found at dusk is a must-do for your mini-vacay.

2.) Hanging Lake
Nature’s first infinity pool. The trail head for this 1.2 mile hike is found just outside of Glenwood Springs and is well worth the 3 hour round trip hike. Pictures and words can’t even begin to capture the beauty of this National Landmark. After a steep hike through the canyons off of I-70 you are rewarded with a lake with water so clear, pictures taken from above the lake look as if they were shot underwater. It’s exceptional. And there’s also a waterfall—sprouting from the center of a canyon wall. It’s unbelievable. But get there early because the small parking lot at the trail head typically fills up by 8:30 a.m. and the trail becomes inundated with families and tourists willing their  sea-level lungs and shaky legs to get them a glimpse of this scenic wonder.

3.) Glenwood Hot Springs
I feel a little obligated to add this to the list since it’s kind of the main tourist attraction for this city. Swimming at this historic destination has been said to cure what ails you with at least fifteen minerals working in harmony to rejuvenate your mind and body. The Ute Indians were the first people to take advantage of Glenwood Springs healing waters, and now the pool stays jam-packed with visitors looking to gain the same benefits. As with most tourist attractions in this area, get there early to avoid battling major crowds.

4.) Rafting on the Colorado River
For the past twenty-seven years of my life, I’ve been more of a land-dweller and less of a water baby, so when I came across a Living Social deal for some beginner white water rafting offered by the Colorado Adventure Center, I jumped in head first. This is how I found myself sitting in the back of a raft cruising through the cool waters of the Colorado River last weekend. Although I did sign up for the beginner trip, I was hoping for a little more action and little more splashing coming from hardcore rapids and not the clumsy lady struggling to paddle in front of me. The company offers a few different options, including kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding, and this stretch of the river currently offers some of the best water for water babies in Colorado due to the lack of rain across the state.

5.) Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
As we were calmly coasting along an easy stretch of the river, our rafting guide pointed towards the sky to something swaying back and forth over the canyons edge. It turned out to be a swing, full of people that voluntarily got on the Glenwood Canyon Swing ride at the Caverns Adventure Park. Whoa. The hair on my arms stand up just thinking about hanging thousands of feet in the air over the side of a canyon. But if you’re the adventurous type, this ride is must-do. For others, like myself, that like to keep their feet on the ground, check out the cave tours. Not only is it an opportunity to learn the history of Glenwood, but you’ll get some exercise in and also get some killer views of the city as well.

6.) Four Mile Road Camping
On my first visit to Glenwood Springs, I stayed in a hotel and did a little late-night drinking at the Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co. (and other various watering holes around town) before I switched gears and moved on to camping at Turquoise Lake outside of Leadville on my way back to civilization. Last weekend, I arrived in Glenwood, seeking tips from locals on campsites semi-close to town. Turns out—there really aren’t any. But if you’re looking to spend some time in the great outdoors along with partaking in activities found inside of the Glenwood Springs city limits, camping off of Four Mile Road about 45 minutes outside of town is the place to go. Exploring a tip from our rafting guide, we made our way into the mountains and set up camp underneath a sky filled with stars… and an owl’s nest. You win some and you lose some. Nothing beats the way the sleepy sun highlighted every leaf, flower and blade of grass as it climbed its own mountains early the next morning.

**Mini Mountain Vacays are super fun! but traffic on I-70 isn’t! Be sure to plan accordingly and avoid eastbound 1-70 from noon-7:00 p.m. if you can.

The post The Bolder Life: Happiness Is… appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

If you’ve been reading this column, you know skiing has been my world since the day A-Basin opened and I devoted every free second of my life to making turns. Consequently, I spent an inordinate amount of time crashing on buddies’ couches in Summit and Eagle counties. One blissful 80-degree morning in March, when it should’ve been dumping spring powder, one buddy proclaimed: “You’re stupid for going skiing today, it’s like 80 and sunny. I’m going floating.”

Wait. Floating? I thought I was going floating. On slush, albeit, but floating. Upon further inquiry, I discovered he was talking about fishing. When I think of fishing I think of a big dude with a beard standing in a river with overalls and waders, casting and reeling in…casting and reeling in…casting and (yawn) reeling in…and then going home to make chicken. My only actual fishing experience was with my father in Long Island and consisted of putting squid bait in a cage-like contraption, getting constantly shushed every time I tried to talk because God forbid we scare away the fish. We’d pull the traps up to yield a disgusting assortment of creepy looking crabs, one of which pinched my finger and wouldn’t let go until my dad managed to break its claw off. Fishing has always been second on my list of Things Allison Preemptively Hates Because They Require Patience and Quiet Reflection and Seem Pointless and Boring.

But I was intrigued by the term “floating.” My buddy, as it turns out, is quite the avid and knowledgeable fisherman. Not only does he partake for fun but works at a fly shop and as a guide. I decided to pick his brain to see if it might be an interesting new venture to explore while waiting for next winter.

“Floating” is fly fishing from a raft or a drift boat as—you guessed it—it floats down the river. What distinguishes this from a few laps in a tube on the lazy river ride at your local water park is that these rafts also float over rapids. He informed me that on guided trips such as the ones he runs in Summit County, you remain right next to the guide at all times.

Floating provides anglers opportunities to catch fish since they are able to cover more water more rapidly (pun intended) and there are more people actually fishing, upping the statistical chance of one actually biting. Floating is also a way to see Colorado’s landscape from a completely different perspective. I’ve seemed to take in the mountains on skis or on foot but never actually floating down a river.

Floating also reminded me of how enjoyable it is, and how rare, to find an activity that combines periods of relaxing and being able to just cruise with physical effort and adrenaline pumping exposure. It combines the Zen of fishing—looking, relaxing, taking in the world—and the excitement of using your body and feeling the exhilaration of rafting through rapids.

Spring is just the time to try floating. Rainbow trout spawn in spring. Summit County is a good place to book your adventure as both the Blue River and the Colorado River are accessible from multiple locations. Silverthorne and Frisco are good places to start, and the Parshall Area, which is 45 minutes from Summit County, is also a great place to get to if you can.

If you want to mix it up a little, brook and cutthroat trout can be found in creeks and high mountain lakes, which enable one to incorporate a little hiking into the mix. But the whole floating down the river and rafting through rapids while catching fish holds a certain allure and makes you sound like a badass to all your friends. If you haven’t caught on by now, I am a huge fan of anything that makes me sound like a badass to all my friends.

Banish all those images of the old man in a plaid shirt sitting on a dock for hours dangling a string in the water, or hours of inhuman silence and patience with only a sunburn and scorched retinas to show for it. Fishing, floating, floating and fishing or whatever you want to call it is dynamic, fun, social and demanding, and it is also an amazing way to experience a part of Colorado’s landscape that few people remember exists. If you’re looking for something new to do, buy the sexiest waders you can find (yes, you do still need waders) and get thee on the river.

The post Goin’ Fishing appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

The Colorado River has not emptied into the ocean since 1998. Coloradans see it in the two-weeks-early runoff and their rapidly disappearing snowpack—the agonizingly slow death of Colorado’s primary water source.

As the state moves rapidly toward doubling its population to 10 million by 2050, it remains one of few western states without a water plan. Gov. John Hickenlooper insisted at How the West Was Warmed, a climate change conference, the state must move forward with a plan in the next five years. The general consensus? The solution must start with the people and politicians will just have to catch up.

Brad Udall, research scientist and director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-funded Western Water Assessment, wrote Water in the Rockies, a 21st Century Zero-Sum Game.

“Water is a vexing problem world wide,” Udall said. “Climate change is really water change. Solutions are almost always zero-sum. Colorado suffers from all of the above problems. Solutions need to involve the five rights: right people, right prices, right priorities, right flexibility and right morality.”

Beth Conover, author of How the West was Warmed, a collection of stories about how people have experienced climate change in the Rocky Mountain west.

“Water issues in the (Colorado) basin are not new, but the increased urgency created by climate change might facilitate or require a more urgent look at how to balance some of the uses in our rivers,” Conover said.

She said the Colorado River is representative of all of the state’s rivers.

“It’s sort of the grandaddy of them all,” she said. “It’s sort of an overdrawn checking account—there’s more demand than supply already and with persistent drought and unknowns related to climate change that becomes an even bigger threat.”

Udall said the state doesn’t know right now how much right it has to the Colorado River, with the bulk of it diverted to other states and climate change decreasing its usage by roughly 20 percent in 2050.

“This is a dangerous strategy,” he said.

Already, all state water, including wastewater, is recycled in the state, so water reuse and redirection would take from someone using that water, Udall said. Even conservation presents challenges, he said.

“Moving water around, solving these problems (is) really difficult because of legal impediments, infrastructure impediments, environmental issues, property rights and the many, many people that show up whenever somebody wants to move water.”

Some Coloradans might claim the Colorado River’s failure to reach the sea isn’t this region’s problems, he said.

“I think it is,” he said. “I think everyone who uses that system needs to have a place at the table to solve it.”

Front Range utilities have begun banding together to do climate change studies and the state has funded no less than three studies on climate change and water issues in Colorado, Udall said.

“We’ve begun, at least, to nibble at some of the solutions,” he said.
With areas in the state relying on unsustainable groundwater, the Colorado River’s future does not look good, he said.

He said the state needs the right people in the policy-making room with the right priorities on the environment, then focus can include agriculture and other uses.

“You make sure your economy and your environment are protected first,” Udall said. “…We need the right prices on water. We’re underpricing water. If it’s less than your cell phone bill, you have no idea what it is.”

Colorado looks to lose 50 percent of its trout due in the next 50 years due to warming and stream flow changes, Conover said.

“About two-thirds of our species in the state of Colorado depend on our river corridors,” Conover said. “A lot of things people in Colorado take for granted, floating on rafts, being able to fish, the aesthetic qualities, all of the benefits that really draw a lot of people of our state in addition to the basic economic sort of life-blood characteristic of water in our region, are a threat as we look at the future.”

To put the problem of climate change into perspective, Udall cited the Pakistani flood, overpopulation, deforestation, China’s South to North Project displacing hundreds of thousands of people, and Australia’s 10-year drought.

“How about water quality?” Udall said. “We’ve talked drought and infrastructure. …There are 400 dead zones around the world right now due to too much nitrogen from fertilizer run off. Two of those are in the U.S.—two of the really big ones, the Gulf and Chesapeake Bay.”

As these dead zones grow exponentially, it becomes more evident that the world’s nitrogen cycles have been damaged even more than it’s carbon cycles, Udall said.

“You’re going to hear a whole lot more about nitrogen and fertilization throughout the 21st century,” he said.

If Colorado is to be at the nexis of a solution, Hickenlooper said, the east versus west, agricultural versus environmental, and urban versus rural wars must stop.

“It’s impossible and inexcusable to ignore the stress that is being applied to our systems, especially water,” he said.

The state must stop glossing over infrastructure, proposing solutions on the back of agriculture, allowing practices that contradict environmental interests and come together to reduce per capita consumption and develop a water rights framework, Hickenlooper said.

Udall summed it up: “Wendell Barry said it best, ‘Do unto upstream as you would have upstream do unto you.’”

The post Colorado River…Good to the Last Drop appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Arches National Park is a massive destination—with massive opportunity. But don’t let that overshadow the stops along the way.

Head up I-70 in the morning and grab lunch at the Buffalo Inn in Idaho Springs. Don’t get uncomfortably full because you’ll be taking a hike. Hanging Lake is just east of Glenwood Springs, and it’s a solid one-hour hike up to a breath-taking view of a glass-clear lake with waterfalls. It’s a rewarding jaunt and a very “Colorado” experience. Once you get back on the road, don’t worry, you won’t be driving too much longer.

Head to the Glenwood Hot Springs, where you’ll soak in one of the giant pools and let the kids try out the slides; stay at the Glenwood Lodge and you’ll receive unlimited access to the pools. Try out the Riviera Restaurant or Rib City Grill for dinner; both come highly recommended by the locals. The next morning, keep heading west to Moab.

You have two choices: Arches National Park or Canyonlands National Park…or both. Let Moab be your headquarters or pick one of the parks. Either way, there is adventure and activity all around you. Head out early one morning to hike to Delicate Arch, one of the most recognizable arches anywhere.

Take a drive through Island in the Sky or camp out in Chesler Park within Canyonlands. Or head out mountain biking on The Slickrock Bike Trail. When you turn around to go back home, don’t forget to stop in Grand Junction for a hike at Colorado National Monument and then tubing down the Colorado River (there are plenty of drop in spots). Stop for dinner at the Rockslide Restaurant & Brewery.

Road Trips – And Countless Adventures on the Open Road

• In Search of Rapids
• Southern Exposure
• A Grand Journey
• Jack Dempsey’s Knock-Out Tour
• Into the West
• Northern Lights
• Utah Bound
• Middle America History Tour

The post Utah Bound appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.