Category Archives: Water Shortages

What Can Colorado River Senior Water Right Users Learn from the NLF Players Union?

Hydrowonk attended the Colorado River Water Users Association in Las Vegas, catching up with clients at Thursday’s Percolation and Runoff reception.  Running with senior water right users, Hydrowonk heard many complaints about this year’s panels barely mentioning the priority system.  One wise observer noted that “this was a meeting of the Colorado River (Junior) Water Users Association.”

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The Wisdom of Bruce Babbitt

Yesterday, former Arizona Governor and Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt called for the immediate implementation of Tier 3 curtailments under the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan (“DCP”) in an opinion piece in The Arizona Republic, Feds should declare a Tier 3 water shortage on the Colorado River (azcentral.com).  Governor Babbitt is advocating this action in the face of inaction by Colorado River parties, including the federal government.

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On Evaporation and System Losses in the Colorado River Basin

The Bureau of Reclamation’s first response to the failure of Colorado River Basin states to propose a plan to reduce the use of Colorado River water by 2 million acre-feet to 4 million acre-feet per year is to recognize evaporation and system losses in the Colorado River system, including the Lower Basin.  Channeling the late management guru Peter Drucker, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

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Hydrowonk’s Fairness Opinion on the Current Price of Lower Colorado River Water

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.

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