At the opening of the past two West Slope Water Summit events, I have often joked that “whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting.
No truer words have been spoken than what we have seen this year.
The demand on the Colorado River far outweighs its supply; whether it is agriculture, potable water, or trying to make the grass greener than the other side.
At the crux of the matter is an unbalanced system that is pitting states, communities, and areas against each other for their “fair” share. The fact of the matter is that our lives, geography, climate, and uses are changing and the fine print may not keep up with those changes.
Part of the problem in finding a solution is that for the past several years, officials have been crying wolf and saying that we need to act now.
Unfortunately, that time is now and our communities may be numb to our pleas for help. Whether you are a resident or water professional, you can play a part in helping to find a solution and the first step is engaging and following water news.
Here’s the Cliff Notes version — the Colorado River Compact that was signed 100 years ago determined who received water, and how much water, from the Colorado River. The Colorado River provides water for 40 million people and irrigation water for 5 million acres of farmland.
The compact was divides the river basin into two areas—the Upper Basin (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and the Lower Basin (Nevada, Arizona, and California).
The Upper and Lower Basins each receive 7.5 million acre-feet of water each year to be divided between their areas. It is important to note that the Upper Basin has never gone above the 7.5 million acre-feet and that the Lower Basin consistently exceeds its allotment. This is said, not to place blame, but to understand that each area has growing needs and challenges to not only stay within its allotment, but also to begin conserving.
And now the cry wolf moment — major reservoirs are dangerously low and the demand isn’t decreasing as populations in the southwest are growing at record numbers.
Over the past 20 years, Lake Mead and Lake Powell have decreased from nearly 95% full to the terrifying number of 27% full, a level which also threatens hydropower generation and the infrastructure of the reservoirs.
Earlier this year, the Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton testified before the U.S. Senate Energy and National Resources Committee that large reductions need to take place to protect the system and river. The Upper and Lower Basins were directed to reduce 2 to 4million acre-feet in 2023 — for reference, Arizona is allocated 2.8 million acre-feet—so a reduction this large is going to take cooperation, conservation, and concessions.
Adding to this already complex problem, is that it is believed that when the compact was signed that officials estimated the river at 15 million acre-feet in a very wet year, and current estimates put the Colorado River closer to 9 million acre-feet.
As you can see, the math doesn’t add up if the river is estimated at 9 million acre-feet and each basin receives 7.5 million acre-feet and the feds are requiring a 2 to 4 million acre-feet reduction.
It is also important to note that there are 30 Native American tribes with water rights along the river that have never called those rights — there is simply not enough to go around but participation by all is important for solutions.
In response to the recent conservation directive, the Upper Basin agreed to reopen a program that pays water users to use less water as well as release additional stored water to assist with reservoir levels. The Lower Basin has not yet submitted anything collectively, but individual states such as Arizona have been focusing aggressively on conservation and creating incentives for producers.
Today, that leave us in a crisis — the immediate and long-term economic, ecological, and human consequences are the stuff of nightmares. The solution is conservation, everyone knows that, but the question is “how” and no one has or can agree on the answers.
What we need now is your help; I invite you to join us for the West Slope Water Summit on Nov. 10 at the Montrose County Event Center. Even though we are a small community on the western slope, arming our community members with knowledge, encouraging conservation, and researching potential solutions is a role that we all play in the Colorado River system.
In its fourth year, the West Slope Water Summit’s theme is “troubled waters” featuring an impressive number of prominent water and conservation experts.
The program begins with Andy Mueller, Executive Director of the Colorado River District, who will address adapting the 1922 Compact to today’s reality. Next, Don Day, Meteorologist Day Weather Inc., is presenting on the State of the Weather: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Before the free lunch, our local Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association Manager Steve Pope will provide an update to the Colorado River Basin Drought Response as part of a panel of water user board members.
Spots are still available — we recently moved from the conference room to the arena to accommodate a larger crowd. Register at westslopewatersummit.com
The midday and keynote presentation is from Greg Walcher, the President of the Natural Resources Group, a consulting firm specializing in energy, water, public lands, forestry, wildlife, and other environmental issues. He is the author of “Smoking Them Out: the Theft of the Environment, and How to Take it Back”, write a weekly newspaper column on natural resource issues, and publishes a blog called “Resources and Reality.”
The afternoon rounds out with Vineetha Kartha, the Program Manager of the Central Arizona Project addressing “Building Resiliency” highlighting the actions that lower basin states on conservation. The full schedule for the day’s events is available at www.westslopewatersummit.com. The event is free to the public and lunch is also provided. Please make sure to register online or call 970-252-4505 to reserve your spot. All of the presentations will also be streamed live and on-demand at the website above.
The crisis on the Colorado River is a complex problem that requires all-hands on deck for a solution. It takes conservation, exploring new technologies to maximize water usage, ecological restoration for greater mountain storage, improved watershed health through forest management, farming incentives, increased water reuse, and more. Our work on these efforts now will help ensure a strong and vibrant Montrose County for generations to come.
Sue Hansen is a Montrose County commissioner.
