‘Unprecedented is now the reality’

In 2021, the Bureau of Reclamation sent water from Blue Mesa downstream in an effort to protect the elevation of water in Lake Powell.

As the water levels of Lake Powell and Lake Mead hit staggering lows, the Bureau of Reclamation recently asked water users along the Colorado River to cut their use by 2-4 million acre-feet by the end of next year — an amount of water equivalent to nearly two to four times the total capacity of Blue Mesa Reservoir. 

The request illuminated the unequal use of water between the Upper and Lower Basin states. According to new data from the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC), an interstate agency that manages the allocation of water in the Upper Basin, drought reduced water consumption in the Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, by 1 million acre-feet in 2021. At the same time, Lower Basin states, Nevada, Arizona, and California and the Republic of Mexico, continued to draw more water downstream — nearly three times as much as their neighbors to the north. The forecast indicates the trend will continue into 2022. 

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on June 14, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton warned that water users along the Colorado River must slash their usage by as much as one-fourth by the end of next year to “help preserve and protect power pool” at Glen Canyon and Hoover dams — both of which produce hydropower for millions across the region. 

Touton said Reclamation has seen similar patterns across every major basin in the West — hydrologic variability, hotter temperatures, dry soil — leading to earlier snowmelt and low runoff. Coupled with the lowest reservoir levels on record, “there is so much to this that is unprecedented,” she said. 

“But unprecedented is now the reality,” Touton said.

 Although the Colorado River Compact, established in 1922, allocates 7.5 million acre-feet of water to each basin annually —under Article III(b) the Lower Basin has the right to an additional 1 million — usage in the Upper and Lower basin is routinely and remarkably uneven. In 2021, the UCRC showed that the Lower Basin states, as well as Mexico, used close to 10 million acre-feet, including evaporative losses from major reservoirs, while the Upper Basin used less than 4 million. 

As dry conditions continue to persist across the majority of the West, storage levels have shrunk at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two largest reservoirs in the U.S., both of which are less than 30% full. In May, Reclamation announced two separate drought responses to help boost water levels as the reservoirs near minimum power pool, the lowest point a dam is able to generate power. 

In 2022, Reclamation will release approximately 500,000 acre-feet of water downstream from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Utah-Wyoming border as part of the Upper Basin Drought Contingency Plan, adopted in 2019. Another 480,000 acre-feet will remain in Lake Powell this year, reducing Glen Canyon Dam’s annual release to 7 million acre-feet. 

In addition to the drought response actions already underway, Touton told Congress that Reclamation will partner with the Basin states and tribes to reduce water use by an additional 2-4 million acre-feet, with 60 days to negotiate a plan to close the gap. 

“It is in our authority to act unilaterally to protect the system, and we will protect the system,” she said. 

When looking to reduce usage by 4 million acre-feet, John McClow, general counsel for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, said the answer is obvious. The Upper Basin states, situated at the headwaters of the Colorado River, have continued to take involuntary shortages each year, dependent on ebb and flow of rain and snowmelt.

“We haven’t got anything to give,” he said. “They've had perfect control of their supply ever since Hoover Dam was built. Their system is a lot easier to operate, you just turn on the tap … We don’t have those resources in the Upper Basin.”

In 2021, the Lower Basin states entered a Tier 1 shortage for the first time, reducing the amount of water Arizona, Nevada and Mexico can claim from the river. It is likely the Lower Basin states will enter Tier 2 by the end of the summer. Even at the highest tier, the total amount of water the Lower Basin has agreed to give up is only about 1.3 million acre-feet, far less than Touton’s request. 

UCRC Executive Director Chuck Cullom said he believes both the Upper and Lower basins need to contribute to a solution. 

“I think the Upper Basin has taken significant efforts and suffered significant pain,” Cullom said. “There is more that can be done. Most of the work going forward should come from the area where there's significant water use. And that's, again, downstream.”

Cullom said although he is optimistic water users, tribes and the federal government can negotiate a plan within the 60-day window, emergency releases in 2021 and Touton’s call for more water reflects that the existing rules have been exhausted. 

“Now that we've depleted the storage, the only choice is to adapt,” he said. 

(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)