This summer, more than 112 miles of the Rio Grande through Albuquerque dried. And despite recent wet weather, New Mexico’s largest river is still not out of the woods. We need state policies and resources to get ahead of events like this, rather than accepting it as an inevitable outcome.
The Bureau of Reclamation released its framework for managing the Colorado River over the next 10 years. What happens next will shape the river for generations.
A new concept paper from experts at Western Resource Advocates and Water Balance Consulting shows that flexible water conservation pools can help get the Colorado River through dry years like this one.
The Colorado River Basin is home to fish that are found nowhere else on Earth and evolved 3 to 5 million years ago — well before dams, pipelines, and climate change reshaped the Colorado River. Their survival depends on careful planning to maintain healthy river flows.
This is a critical moment for the Colorado River. Lake Powell and Lake Mead — the two major reservoirs on a river that provides water to 35 million people — have fallen to historically low levels. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is working to develop new guidelines for managing the river in the years ahead. This is our chance to build a more sustainable future for the Colorado River and the communities, fish, and wildlife that depend on it.
The states that share the Colorado River have failed to agree on how to protect it, leaving 35 million people without a clear path forward. We still have a chance to protect the river – but we must act now. Our communities need a plan that responds to climate change, proactively prepares for water shortages, promotes conservation across the Basin, and protects river health.
Declining stream flows can have cascading impacts on communities, fish, and wildlife. WRA is supporting policies and agreements to put water back into the rivers that sustain the West.
The federal government is evaluating proposals for updating the guidelines governing the Colorado River. WRA and partners have submitted the Cooperative Conservation Alternative to protect the river and ecosystems that sustain the West.
We have a historic opportunity to reimagine a more sustainable future for the Colorado River. The federal government has kicked off the process for updating the river’s management guidelines. WRA is advocating for a forward-thinking approach to keep the Colorado River healthy and flowing.
