Watershed Info. No. 1329

October 22, 2025 / EnviroInsight, Inc. / Comments Off

Daniel Salzler No. 1329 EnviroInsight.org Five Items October 24, 2025

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Two-Decade Hydropower Plunge At Big Colorado River Dams.

Lakes Mead and Powell, the largest reservoirs on the Colorado River, do not just store water. Their dams, Hoover and Glen Canyon, also generate electricity.

This hydropower drives irrigation pumps and fuels industries. It keeps the lights on for customers on tribal lands, in the basin’s largest cities, and in sleepy desert towns.

But less of it is being generated these days. Hydropower output at Hoover and Glen Canyon has dropped considerably since 2000. That’s because the reservoirs have declined due to a warming climate and over-extraction.

The graphics below show these energy and water trends. The line chart displays annual hydropower generation. The background image depicts water-level changes in the reservoirs over the same time period.

Soure: Circle of Blue, Oct. 17, 2025

Source: WaterWise

3. Colorado River Negotiations Remain Bogged Down. As a federally-imposed deadline looms for a deal in Colorado River negotiations, Arizona water officials say conversations are still not progressing.

The seven states that use Colorado River water are currently deadlocked in negotiations over how to share the river in the coming decades as its supply dwindles. New guidelines for sharing the river must be in place by Oct. 1, 2026, but the Department of the Interior has imposed a Nov. 11 deadline for the states to come to an agreement without federal intervention.

Arizona’s negotiators, along with those from its fellow Lower Basin states — California and Nevada — maintain that the Lower Basin has made deep cuts to its current allocation of Colorado River water and continue to urge the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico to do the same. And despite reports of progress in late summer, members of Arizona’s team say the conversations are not exactly moving forward.

“The Lower Basin, for more than a decade, has been providing substantial support for the Colorado River system and has proposed solutions which would continue to support the river system,” said Clint Chandler, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. “The Upper Basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, have not answered the challenges relating to conservation to date or proposed meaningful solutions for the post-2026 guidelines.”

Or, in the words of Central Arizona Project Board President Terry Goddard: “We’re up the creek without a paddle.”

Yet while negotiations are at a standstill, both Goddard and Chandler said the seven states are still meeting regularly. Most recently, conversations centered around a plan based on the “natural flow” of the river, which would allocate water supplies based on the actual amount of water in the river rather than the historical amounts states were promised in past agreements.

Goddard said that despite initial interest in the natural flow concept from the Upper Basin states, that plan did not bring about any compromises that could have led to a deal.

“I don’t think (the Upper Basin states) intended to change their position from ‘hell no we won’t go,’” Goddard said.

Chandler said the Upper Basin states are still stuck on their ability to build water storage, which would not be possible under a natural flow plan. The Lower Basin states have long argued that the Colorado River’s current water supply cannot sustain increased water storage, despite what may have been promised to the Upper Basin in the past.

“We submitted something that, with just a few adjustments, could become operational, and the Upper Basin answered with a proposal and alternative that would have continued to build storage in the Upper Basin reservoirs, even at high elevations, while reducing deliveries to the Lower Basin,” Chandler said.

And though Arizona’s negotiators haven’t had much luck with their Upper Basin counterparts, both Goddard and Chandler said the leadership at the Department of the Interior has been instrumental in keeping conversations alive. Both praised Scott Cameron, the acting head of the Bureau of Reclamation and a senior adviser to the secretary of the interior, for his work on the negotiations.

As the federal deadline for a deal looms, Arizona’s negotiators see only a few options for a path forward. Chandler said the federal government has adjusted deadlines in the past, which could allow for more time to iron out details if the states can come to a consensus.

But if not, the other option that the state has been preparing for is litigation. The Department of the Interior has signaled its willingness to create Colorado River guidelines on behalf of the seven states, which is likely to result in lawsuits from both sides.

Arizona’s Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs already set aside $500,000 in this year’s budget for potential litigation, a possibility that many in Arizona see as nearly inevitable at this point.

“Hope for the best and brace for the worst is the best advice I can think of,” Goddard said. Source: AZ Capital Times

4. Did You Know? La Paz County Water Facts.

The primary source of water in La Paz County is surface water (87%), with groundwater making up the remaining supply (13%). Most surface water in La Paz County comes from the Colorado River and its tributaries. Colorado River water is managed by the US Bureau of Reclamation and the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) based on Colorado River entitlements. Each entitlement holder manages their own Colorado River water use according to the conditions of their entitlement. Most local groundwater in La Paz County is so-called “fossil water” that percolated into the ground many thousands of years ago and is considered nonrenewable because it is not replenished by nature on human time scales.

Groundwater use is regulated by ADWR within Active Management Areas (AMAs). La Paz County is not located within an AMA, so most groundwater use regulations do not apply there. However, ADWR recently held an informal public meeting on October 15, 2025, to present information and accept comments and questions on whether to initiate procedures to designate the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin as an AMA. A recording of this gathering is posted on the ADWR YouTube channel.

ADWR also administers the Adequate Water Supply Program. An Adequate Water Supply determination requires demonstration that a water supply meets water quality standards and is physically, continuously, and legally available for 100 years. The determination of adequacy or inadequacy must be provided to buyers before subdivided lots can be sold to the public. Source:cUniversity of AZ Water Resources Research Center Oct. 17, 2025.

5. U of AZ Scientist Use Three Rings To Reconstruct Jet Stream History. A recent study led by the University of Arizona scientist develop new insights in the atmospheric forces that shape extreme summer weather by examining tree rings. In establish study published in the journal AGU Advances, researchers use centuries of tree records to reconstruct the history of jet stream patterns known as “locked” wave 5 configurations, which can stall weather systems and trigger heat waves and drought across continent.

These findings could strengthen early warning systems for climate events that threaten crops, food security, and human health. Broadman explains that “paleoclimate research really matters [because]…modern instruments only cover the same period humans have been warming the planet, so you need the long-term view to really understand the impacts of modern climate change.”