The seven states that make up the Colorado River basin are facing a Tuesday decision with the federal government on a commitment to draw down on water use on a river in crisis.
The Colorado River, described as the hardest working river in the West, is dwindling due to drought and diversions.
At its sprawling length of 1,450 miles, it is the sixth largest river in the United States, providing water to 40 million users and irrigating vital crops.
Will it last?
The Colorado River and how it is allocated has been a source of contention for more than 100 years.
A compact reached in 1922 happened at a time when the hydrology of the river was beyond its best, and negotiators from the seven states acted on what they knew at the time.
The Upper Basin states — Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico — have never failed to meet deliveries of available water of 7.5 million-acre feet a year to their sister states. Additional water has long been sent downstream — to the benefit of states in the Lower Basin: Nevada, California and Arizona.
Again, consider that Lake Powell in 1999 was 92% full. In 2022, it was 26% full.
The allocation of the water from the river happened in a secret meeting in a remote location, giving rise to the mystery of how this water would be shared.
The place was Bishop’s Lodge, a secluded outpost outside of Santa Fe at the end of a winding rough road in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It was selected just over 100 years ago by a man who only nine years later would be president of the United States during one of the nation’s most challenging eras, the Great Depression.
But during that month, November 1922, Herbert Hoover brought together representatives from the seven states that make up the Colorado River Basin — Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada.
There was much bickering to be had, much like today, but the states came together with their cards on the table to come up with the best deal possible.
The question remains if they are able to do it now.
In 2023, the Lower Basin states agreed to save 3 million acre-feet by 2026, which some critics said was a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
That same year, a series of complex water management steps led to the release of 1.6 million acre-feet of water from the Upper Basin reservoirs of Flaming Gorge and Blue Mesa to help struggling Lake Powell and to keep power generation operational.
But now it is back to the drawing board, with each of the basins submitting conservation plans to stretch the river’s viability past 2026. And it is an important stretch, if you consider the river’s economic value is at $1.4 trillion.
There have been rumors and media reports that the Upper Basin states may be vulnerable to cuts that will have wide-ranging impacts on agriculture and water supply for the Wasatch Front.
Through a transbasin diversion, water is piped from a tributary that feeds into the Colorado River, but that water winds its way through an elaborate delivery system to serve the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, which in turn supplies that water to highly populated areas, serving 2 million people each day.
Are there solutions?
In response to the ongoing federal government shutdown, the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office has extended the deadline for Water Delivery Program applications to Jan. 16.
“The shutdown prevents the coordination between the commissioner’s office and the Bureau of Reclamation necessary for the administration of the program and related funds,” said Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed. “The program’s timeline for the current round of funding has been shifted to allow applicants more time to submit their applications and ensure necessary interagency coordination.”
The state-managed, $50 million competitive grant program uses federal funds provided by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation through a voluntary agreement with the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner and the Utah Department of Natural Resources. It provides funding for voluntary water transactions, system conservation projects, and ecosystem and habitat work, all of which benefit the hydrology of the Great Salt Lake and its wetlands.
The submission deadline for the $3 million wetland grant offered by the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands has also been extended to Jan. 16, at 11:59 p.m., to continue close coordination between the two funding opportunities. For more information, visit gslwatertrust.org/wetland-grants.
Funding awards for selected projects will be announced in early spring of 2026. More information and updated dates can be found at GreatSaltLake.utah.gov.
Steed is cautiously keeping his fingers crossed and hoping for a great water year that not only boosts the Great Salt Lake but pumps up the Colorado River.
Steed was appointed by Gov. Spencer Cox as the commissioner of the Great Salt Lake and has a long career in natural resources and their preservation.
“I would say that hydrology has not been favorable for anyone in the basin and that will force conversations across the board,” Steed said.
Colorado River program director at the Nature Conservancy Celene Hawkins said there are so many moving parts to negotiations, it is hard to make any predictions.
“I think the deadline that is happening next week is going to be a really important point for us,” Hawkins said.
She said the upcoming deadline is the coin in the deal.
“I do not expect a full-blown proposal,” she said. “What we hope for is a consensus we can arrive to for the seven basin states.”
Gene Shawcroft, the Upper Colorado River Commissioner, remains optimistic despite the tempest that continues to grow around the Colorado River.
“There are many moving parts and complex issues and I believe we will get closure on (them),” Shawcroft said.
The deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 11, for the states to come up with a plan, but it is a consensus plan that will not include all the details.
Shawcroft said plans will be looked at from now until February and the next step after that will be federal government review. The final plans have to be in place by next October.
Shawcroft said the state has been in a status of voluntary negotiations, that while temporary, will be compensated.