Protect the Flows, a coalition of more than 250 tourism-related businesses from five states along the Colorado River, understands that this bumper water year may not bolster the water supply for long, said public affairs representative Molly Mugglestone.
"The bigger take-away is that the Colorado River hasn't reached the Sea of Cortez for about 12 years, so even if we have a lot of snow one year, it's still the overall supply and demand of the Colorado River that's not equal," said Mugglestone. "There is more demand than supply. We're trying to make sure people don't say, 'We've got great runoff this year, no problem.' We're trying to think more long-term in terms of future."
The organization met with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday to discuss their stake in the allocation of Colorado River water resources (E&E Daily, July 19).
Andrew Wood of the NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center similarly warned that smart management is necessary to face whatever conditions will affect the crucial river in the future.
"As a result of this year, Lake Powell has reached an equalization level, which means they are able to send water downstream to Lake Mead," said Wood. "But this doesn't restore the lake to levels that were seen before we entered this period of drought. We would definitely need more than a year -- more than even a few years like this."
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
See what we're tweeting about
10 Comments
Add CommentYes, there is a serious problem. It is caused by blame. Global warming takes the blame for the problems caused by water rights, over grazing, and general land mismanagement leading to desertification. Make the people of Denver stop watering their lawns. End water rights. Hold back on some of the water upstream as nature and beavers used to do before white man came. Then the land will recover.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll of those are problems. Climate change needs to be factored in as well as all other impact factors so that loss of water is less than the river's natural recovery rate.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you choose to live in a desert, why would you expect to have a green lawn anyway? That never made sense to me.
Denver is on the other side of the Continental Divide. Look at a map. My so-called "over-grazing" is what provides your food. Also, most of the Colorado Basin's lands have been deserts for thousands of years. The ONLY part that isn't desert is the Rocky Mountains. And what don't you understand about the "RIGHTS" associated with water rights? Basic water rights are an area of the law that hasn't been altered in centuries. My water rights were created over a century ago. Beavers create dams to provide a safe place to raise their families. Have you ever seen Lakes Powell and Mead? They are probably larger than the county that you live in.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a rancher in western Colorado, I despise you people that spew blame without knowing ANY facts about the situation. EVERY SINGLE THING THAT YOU SAY IS ABSOLUTELY WRONG! Local weather, and the climate in general, are changing. We need to adapt.
Now we know why the Anasazi civilization ended, and they didn't have 30 million people living off the limited water supply. The Southwest has always had droughts and likely always will. We may not be able to limit population growth, but mother nature surely will.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell nostalic since you are a Colorado rancher, I guess you know more than I do. I therefore assume that Denver does not have water rights to the Colorado river and does not get municipal water through the Colorado-Big Thompson project which sends water over the continental divide. I guess that the area has always been desert and John Wesley Powell was wrong when he described what would happen if the area did not hold back its water and reuse it but instead shipped it out of the area. Thus, there would no point in restoring the land to what once existed. Xeriscape and drip irrigation make no sense to you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishubert says: "Make the people of Denver stop watering their lawns."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this--------------
Hmmmm......while hubert likes to point fingers and assign "blame" in this instance, he really needs to understand that Denver is on the eastern side of the Continental Divide, and that the Colorado River Basin is on the western side, flowing AWAY from Denver!
notslic says: "Local weather, and the climate in general, are changing. We need to adapt."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this---------------
This is very true, and climate change is already giving us more El Nino and La Nina winters, and it was the La Nina pattern this past winter that deposited more snow in the north-central mountains of Colorado, while generally sparing the southwestern part of the state and the San Juan Mtns. All the lakes including Blue Mesa, Powell and Mead are still rising, but probably not for much longer:
http://snowpack.water-data.com/uppercolorado/index.php
Lake Mead hit a historical low level at the end of Nov. and has rebounded quite nicely, but even after all the record snowpack has melted, it will only be at 56%.
Lake Powell has risen 50 feet since its low in April.
I'd much rather see that Colorado snow being used as irrigation in western Colorado, than watering golf courses in the desert of Nevada!
BTW, where's that Olathe sweet corn we usually see by mid-July?
Thanks for the info about the C-BT Project, which was built between 1938 and 1957, providing supplemental water to 30 cities and towns. The water is used to help irrigate approximately 693,000 acres of northeastern Colorado farmland, and not sure if Denver is one of the cities that gets supplemental water from it or not. I do hear from time to time that Denver does indeed invoke water restrictions on its residents, but probably not this year with a good snowpack and good monsoonal flow.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi Lakota. Sweet corn is armpit high. You'll see it soon. Almost an inch and a half of rain so far in July!!! This is the latest that I can remember my irrigation ditch being so full and dirty. That IS good news about Mead and Powell. But, as it says in the article, they need a few more years like this one to make a real difference.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSince Hubert knew about the Big Thompson, and put down Denver, he probably lives in the Fort Collins area. I understand why he is so upset. It used to be a nice mellow farming community back in the 70's when I went to CSU. Now it is solid city from the Springs to Wyoming. Definitely the wrong side of the Rockies. As far as I know, Denver gets its water from the Platte drainage.
Cheers
Re: "The study is based on data from historically observed and paleo-reconstructed water flow records, as well as projections from global climate models."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHistorical observation is empirical; climate models would seem to indicate inherently-biased computer simulations (i.e., output from the computer is only as good as the data entered). What is the procedure to paleo-reconstruct water flow records?