Like many of the rules and laws that govern land and water in the West, the Colorado River Compact is woefully outdated—yet it’s nearly impossible to change, according to experts.
“If we look at the compact today and ask ourselves, ‘Was it equitable given 2022 values?’ No, it wasn’t,” former Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle said last week at the University of Utah’s Wallace Stegner Center annual symposium. “But a part of the reason I say that I wouldn’t suggest a renegotiation is because I don’t think it’s politically possible.”
Castle says that formally changing the Compact—which requires the Upper Basin states to deliver a set amount of water to the Lower Basin states and divides the water among the states in each basin—would require Congress and Western states to agree on any changes, which is very unlikely.
Still, there is hope. New rules for managing the dwindling river—which serves 40 million people—are under negotiation right now in preparation for the expiration of both the current operating plan for the river and a drought contingency plan in 2026.
“While we do not have a readily accessible reset button, we do have other options,” said Acting Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner David Palumbo, who also spoke at the symposium. Those include things like addressing access to clean drinking water for tribal nations, as well as environmental and conservation concerns.
Quick hits
Lake Powell heading for energy crisis as water nears “dead pool”
Biden designates Colorado’s Camp Amache as national historic site
UN chief: Don’t let Russia crisis fuel climate destruction
Climate disclosures proposed by SEC would be a big win for Biden—and the environment
NPR | New York Times | Associated Press | Politico
Sediment is shrinking Lake Powell, on top of drought
Report: Rich countries must stop producing oil by 2034 to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees
Idaho legislature votes to give firefighters hazard pay
Is it ethical to fund conservation with guns, with hunting on the decline?
Quote of the day
It’s crazy – on the opening day of the hunt, they move, and on the closing day they move back… It’s almost like they’re thinking, ‘Oh, all these trucks are coming, it’s opening day, better move.’”
Picture this
Did you know….Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is located on the ancestral homelands of the Klamath, Siletz, and Karuk tribes.
Situated at the crossroads of the Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou mountain ranges, this place represents an outstanding ecological wonderland. This convergence of three geologically distinct mountain ranges has resulted in an area with unparalleled biological diversity and a tremendously varied landscape.
The Monument was established in 2000 in recognition of its remarkable ecology and to protect its diverse range of biological, geological, aquatic, archeological, and historic resources.
📸 Bob Wick.
(featured image: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Bernard Spragg/Flickr)