Brian Steed
The Colorado River system, a vitally important source of water to Utah and six other Southwestern states, is facing very real challenges. A big water year has helped the system avoid crisis in the short term. Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and Flaming Gorge all gained much-needed water this year. Inflows raised Lake Powell
an amazing 65 feet. This gain in water was sufficient to allow access to boat ramps that had been inaccessible for several years.
Yet, major decisions remain in how the river system is to be managed. Even with the gain in elevation, Lake Powell remains at below 40% of capacity. Making matters more complicated, experts generally concede that the system is oversubscribed, creating uncertainty about how much water Utah can reliably
count on receiving. The largest challenge to overcome is hydrology and the imbalance between supply and demand. The flows of the river are different than what was expected when the Colorado River Compact was negotiated between the states over 100 years ago.
Given this set of facts, the basin states have a number of decisions to make in the runup to 2026, when the current management plan for the river is set to expire. The states must agree on how much water to store and where. More problematically, the states must decide on how much and where water will be used. All of these questions require data and understanding. In the remaining sections in this section, we examine some of the ongoing work to understand the river, its importance, and its future.
