water management

A new bill in the U.S. House aims to expand the use of data to understand and manage water nationwide. And a domestic cat in San Miguel County has tested positive for the plague, but there have been no human cases to-date.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced a new round of funding for water projects this week. And Democrats at the Colorado state Capitol have passed a bill they say will protect elections from insider threats.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is locking in plans to add more water to Lake Powell. And the US Senate unanimously approved an extension of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

Colorado has been collecting more taxes than it can legally spend in recent years. And the seven states in the Colorado River basin are giving their approval to a proposed set of water cutbacks from the federal government.

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.

America’s largest homebuilder is buying a water resources company with holdings throughout the Colorado River Basin. And the city of Moab has hired a new police chief after eight tumultuous months.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is considering emergency cutbacks to water supplies for Arizona, California, and Nevada. And the Colorado Health Foundation has awarded a grant to the Ute Mountain Ute tribe to provide high-speed internet to tribal members.

Colorado’s top water agency is pausing investigations into “demand management,” a program that would pay people to use less water and send it to Lake Powell for storage. And the Colorado Senate has approved a bill that would force hospitals to allow visitors during future public health emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic.

A report released Monday says Lake Powell has lost four percent of its storage capacity since 1986. And federal funding for a central sewer system in Rico was approved by Congress, although there are concerns the town won’t meet the deadline to use them.