Colorado River

The Upper Colorado River Commission has extended the deadline for water users to enroll in the rebooted System Conservation Pilot Program, which pays farmers to curb their use. And housing is a major priority for Democrats at the State Capitol. That includes a new bill that would add eviction protections for Coloradans who get public assistance or disability benefits.

Colorado River activists are calling on the federal government to rework the plumbing on one of its biggest dams. And President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that he says will make it easier for people to travel to other states for abortions.

One of Colorado’s top water officials says he can’t enforce recent federal demands to start conserving more on the Colorado River. And Colorado Parks and Wildlife is enacting voluntary fishing closures in Southwest Colorado.

A fire broke out at Hoover Dam on Tuesday morning. And states in the Upper Colorado River Basin aren’t ready to commit to federal water conservation targets.

Lake Powell is in crisis. So reports KUNC’s Alex Hager, who covers the Colorado River. Just last month, water in the nation's second largest reservoir dipped below the target elevation. Now, the federal government is moving forward with emergency cutbacks for several states.

A new plan will release water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir, a measure designed to boost dropping levels in Lake Powell. The releases come as a response to record lows, which are on course to drop too low to generate hydropower at the Glen Canyon dam. The Drought Response Operations Plan brings together the four states of the upper Colorado River basin – Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico – and the federal government.

The federal government declared a water shortage for much of the Southwest last week, resulting in the first ever mandatory cutbacks for some who draw from the Colorado River. As two decades of drought, increased demand and climate change cut deep into the West’s water supply, the region is looking ahead to a future where supplies might drop further still.

The federal government declared an official water shortage on the Colorado River for the first time ever, and that means cuts in the water supply; Montezuma County has released a resource guide for residents who are struggling to pay rent or mortgage payments during the pandemic.

The Colorado River through the national park holds lessons for managing an essential and diminishing resource in a rapidly warming climate.

The nation’s second largest reservoir, Lake Powell, is now at its lowest point since it first filled in the 1960s. From KUNC, Luke Runyon reports.The…