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(Washington D.C.)- On Friday, April 9, the Subcommittee on Water and Power, chaired by Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, held a field hearing entitled “Collaboration on the Colorado River: Lessons Learned to Meet Future Challenges,” at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The hearing’s panel of expert witnesses examined how the seven Colorado River Basin states and the federal government have worked together on Colorado River water issues in the past and discussed what positive role the federal government should play in addressing water challenges in the future.
"Cooperation is critical for delivering the Colorado River’s water to communities across the west,” Napolitano said. “Climate change and a growing population bring new challenges for an already strained source of water. With so many actors involved, we will only be able to make progress if we all pull in the same direction. The states and the federal government must continue to work together to ensure reliable water delivery for the thousands of farms and cities that depend on the Colorado River both in the United States and Mexico.”
Seven different states (Arizona, Colorado, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) and Mexico draw water from the Colorado River. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Colorado River Basin has been in a drought since October 1999. As of April 8, 2010, Lake Powell was at 56 percent capacity and Lake Mead was at 43 percent, and the basin is still in drought in spite of recent rains.
“The Colorado River is significantly over-allocated,” said Patricia Mulroy, General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. “When coupled with projected growth, severe drought and predicted effects of climate change, this imbalance between supply and demand will likely become even greater in the future.”
Data shows that between 1950 and 2003, average winter temperatures in the Colorado River Basin have increased by approximately 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
“History has shown that collaboration is a necessary ingredient for action in the Colorado River Basin,” said Jennifer Gimbel, Director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. “States and interested stakeholders face many potential confrontations in each of the identified negotiations, however, the continued commitment to work through differences has succeeded in the past, and I strongly believe that negotiations can resolve existing and future disputes.”
“It is clear that the Colorado River and those who count on it for water face new threats,” Napolitano said. “The economic viability of farms and communities across the west is at stake. All parties involved must build upon our shared history of cooperation and communication in order to meet these new challenges.”
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