Drought eases in Gunnison County

Elk Creek Marina stayed closed in 2022 due to low water levels.

Better than expected monsoonal rains this summer have not led Gunnison County out of the region’s persistent drought — but the moisture has gone a long way to lessen its severity. Beverly Richards, water resource specialist for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, shared the message with the Gunnison County Commissioners on Tuesday.

As of last week, over 96% of Gunnison County was listed in the National Integrated Drought Information System as falling in the category of “moderate drought,” one step above the least severe rating of “abnormally dry.” The 30-day outlook calls for continued improvement, as forecasts predict at least a 33% chance of above normal precipitation in the next month.

Richards said the wetter-than-forecasted summer has done little to improve the water storage outlook at Blue Mesa Reservoir, however. 

Current forecasts call for the lake to drop to 33% of capacity heading into winter, up only slightly from the 29% estimate in early summer. The water level in the reservoir peaked at 48% in July and sits at 44% of capacity.

“Even though we've had all this monsoon, quite frankly, I don't think a whole lot of the water got into the streams,” Richards said. “That’s because the soil was so dry. A lot of (the moisture) was depleted that way.”

Upper Basin plan

On June 14, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton spoke at a hearing convened by the U.S. Senate on drought conditions in the West. 

“The challenges we are seeing today are unlike anything we’ve seen in our history,” she told lawmakers. In particular, Touton pointed to critically low water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, currently at approximately 26% and 27% capacity.

Touton called on Colorado River Basin states — Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California — to come up with a plan to reduce water use by 2-4 million acre-feet in 2023, to protect levels in the reservoirs. She gave the states 60 days — or until Aug. 16 — to comply or the federal government would step in on its own.

Under the Colorado River Compact, signed in 1922, states are grouped into upper and lower basin “divisions.” The Upper Colorado River Commission represents the four Upper Basin states, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico. On July 18, the Commission sent a letter to Touton delivering the Upper Basin plan for reaching her target reductions.

The letter outlines a 5-step proposal centered on drought response and demand management program development and implementation and a continuation of current “water management and administration within the available annual water supply within the Upper Division States.” 

“We intend to implement the 5 Point Plan to the extent it is effective, in conjunction with plans developed for the Lower Basin,” the letter states.

The letter repeats what Upper Basin States have consistently maintained — that the bulk of the reductions must be undertaken by the Lower Basin states.

“To be blunt, it's because we have a structural imbalance,” Upper Gunnison General Counsel John McClow told commissioners on Tuesday. “The lower basin has been consuming more water than there is, and it finally caught up with us. We can't recover in dry years like ‘22, and what's anticipated in ‘23, the system just doesn't have enough water anymore. So you will notice if you look at this letter, we do point out to the commissioner that we have very limited ability to make a contribution because, we are at the mercy of the hydrology.”

According to McClow, Lower Basin states have yet to submit a plan of their own to Reclamation, but that they are considering a program to compensate agricultural users for reductions at a proposed rate of $1,500 per acre-foot. That would require up to $2 billion dollars for one year.

The Inflation Reduction Act passed by the U.S. Senate last weekend contains a provision for up to $4 billion in drought mitigation funding for all Colorado River states, which could be tapped to help pay for the program. The money is available only until fall 2026.

“If the program costs $2 billion for one year, that’s not going to last,” McClow said.

Should the federal government step in unilaterally to address the crisis, McClow acknowledged that it has authority to dictate reductions to Lower Basin states, but the legal picture is unclear regarding what cuts Upper Basin states could be forced to take.

“Whether the Secretary (of the Interior) has any authority to do anything to enforce a reduction in consumptive use in the upper basin is questionable,” he said. “All of the federal projects have their attorneys scouring their contractual arrangements to see what authority the Secretary has. The Attorney General's Office is reviewing all of those contracts, including ours.”

(Alan Wartes can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or publisher@gunnisontimes.com.)