Posted on 04/12/2023 7:47:10 AM PDT by Twotone
The Biden administration has proposed cutting water allotments from the Colorado River to California, Arizona, and Nevada by up to 25%. hoping to conserve the supply.
“The Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million Americans. It fuels hydropower resources in eight states, supports agriculture and agricultural communities across the West, and is a crucial resource for 30 Tribal Nations. Failure is not an option,” said Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau in a statement. “Recognizing the severity of the worsening drought, the Biden-Harris administration is bringing every tool and every resource to bear through the President’s Investing in America agenda to protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System now and into the future.”
Overuse and a 23-year drought have reduced the river’s flows by one-third, putting its reservoirs at risk of becoming dead pools, The New York Times reports.
The U.S. Department of the Interior considered various options, including taking no action or basing access to drinking water on the seniority of water rights. However, the latter would drastically reduce the water supply for Nevada and Arizona, two swing states that may play key roles in the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau told The New York Times that allocating cuts evenly would help the department do what it needs. He said the administration did not want to reduce the water levels in Lake Mead and Powell too much, given the potential negative consequences. He also defended the administration’s decision to abandon seniority rules about water rights, arguing that any impact climate change may have on the supply could not have been predicted when the rules were created.
The Biden administration would prefer that the states that rely on the Colorado River for water reach an agreement among themselves. These states include: Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. However, the federal government only has the power to impose cuts on the lower basin states – Arizona, California, and Nevada – hence why its reduction plan focuses on them.
Thus far, the states have not come to a reduction plan of their own, as six states have shown interest in making California bear most of the cuts.
California has the option to DESALINATE water, which is very cheap compared at least to the retail price of water (desalinated water would add about 10% to a water bill compared to ‘free’ water).
They had a formal application to build a large plant - it was REJECTED by the state due to its relatively minuscule impact on Global Warming. So California, at least, SHOULD take the entire cut.
Can anyone explain the inclusion of WYOMING in this statement?
I don’t think the Colorado goes anywhere near Wyoming.
I did a quick search and found this:
Colorado River Compact, 1922 — Divides the basin at Lee Ferry, AZ. Provides that the upper basin states may use 7.5 million acre feet annually. Upper Colorado River, 1948 — Apportions 14% of the water allocated in the Colorado River Compact to Wyoming.
How it gets there, I’ve no idea...
From the fourth paragraph, the most important issue for the Department of the Interior is making sure that Brandon get re-elected. And after all, that should be the prime motive for all of the Federal government’s actions, right?
/s
The government has no respect for established law, compacts, agreements nor treaties. California seems to grab more and more resources while they. have. less and less people.
I actually agree with this. Shut down the golf courses, artificial lakes, and backyard swimming pools for a few years. A very small but very wise sacrifice.
Less and less people, but not THAT many less. That said, CA has the ability, as others have noted, to produce vastly more water through desalination. Also new reservoirs. The voters approved the Sites reservoir in northern CA in 2014. Like San Luis in Central CA, it would not be fed by snowmelt or a major rivers. Rather, like San Luis, water would be drawn by the Central Valley Project to fill it, specifically vis a vis Sites, from the Sacramento River.
Like San Luis, just under 2.5
Million acre feet, nominally enough water for 10 million people. It would have easily filled this year. Like most things, our lib green government enacts the will of the people when the government agrees with it; otherwise they blow it off. Supposedly construction will begin this year. We’ll see about that
At that time, there were three companies in the world that had the technology and resources to engage in that scale of desalination project. One each in the US, Europe and Israel. I got in deep engaging with the 3 companies while working on a desalination system associated with an alternative energy related project.
By far at that time, the Israel company had the superior technology plus an unmatched resume of in-service facilities in worldwide industrial systems. The multi-effect evaporation vessel was absolutely clever, which was probably due to their extensive experience over many years.
The west coast and southwest states use of Colorado River water today is parceled out to them by long term arrangements, that began when the annual flow of the Colorado was much greater. A logn term trend of decreses rainfall along the western side of the Rockies has been lower the Colorado River for decades.
California, Nevada, Arizoan and New Mexico should, in the long run, have their use of the Colordao for drinking water curtailed. But it should be managed together with those states instituting extensive desalinization plant projects, on the California coast and in the Gulf of California (in cooperation with Mexico). Desalinization is the only thing that can manage the southwest states water needs, over the peaks and valleys of available water from the Colorado River. How to power such plants? That would be to use dedicaticated newest-design small modular nuclear power plants, insuring the desalinization plants are not subject to power outtages.
Look up the Green River.
California sends water form farmers down the river to protect a small fish.
The Green River is the largest tributary of the Colorado River. Big River. Roughly the same size of the Colorado where the two rivers merge into one. The Green River headwaters in southwestern Wyoming then runs south into Utah.
I don’t see how those AZ chip factories are going to get enough water.
I don’t see how those AZ chip factories are going to get enough water.
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Ya don’t need water with chips.
Beer will work just fine.
I believe personal use is not the main factor. It is agriculture that is the main user of water from the Colorado. There needs to be more reservoirs built so water can be saved for the tough times. But folks like Newscum are incompetent when it comes to actually solving a problem.
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