The Colorado River remains in disarray as parties search for ways to meet the Bureau of Reclamation’s announced goal of reducing use of Colorado River water by 2 million acre-feet to 4 million acre-feet annually perhaps through the year 2026 (https://hydrowonk.com/blog/2022/08/19/the-colorado-river-in-disarray/). Hydrowonk hears rumors that parties are struggling in negotiations to secure voluntary conservation to meet the Bureau’s objectives, as well as provide conserved water to offset curtailments junior priorities incur under the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan.
Category Archives: Water Marketing
The Colorado River in Disarray
The inevitable is upon us. Channeling Hydrowonk’s favorite Chicagoan theologian, “the curtailments have come home to roost.”
Many are not surprised. The early 20th century was a period of historically high natural flows on the Colorado River when the 1922 Colorado River Compact was negotiated. The 1944 Treaty with the Republic of Mexico was, at least partly, a national security exercise during World War II against Nazi incursion south of our border. Were interested parties inside and outside state and federal governments engaged in long-term comprehensive risk assessment over the past seventy years? Based on Hydrowonk’s four decades plus experience, nope (with a few exceptions). Neglect is always a prelude to catastrophe.
Appellate Court Wheeling Decision Puts More Pressure on Northern California Water Supplies
Last June, the Court of Appeal of the First Appellate District issued an opinion addressing the long-standing dispute between the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the San Diego County Water Authority regarding lawful wheeling rates for water conveyed to San Diego through Metropolitan’s Colorado River Aqueduct and local distribution system. Reversing a superior court decision, the Appellate Court held that Metropolitan’s inclusion of State Water Project costs in its calculation of wheeling rates was lawful. Putting aside legal debate, Hydrowonk focuses on the economic consequences of the decision.
Groundwater Management under SGMA—A Role for Markets Part 1
The June 30, 2017 deadline for medium and high-priority groundwater basins to create Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (“GSAs”) under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (“SGMA”) is behind us, and the newly-formed regulatory agencies must now figure out how they will meet their purpose of stopping overdraft and bringing groundwater to sustainable levels. SGMA implementation can easily build on the experiences of the west.