November 20 2024.
WASHINGTON — Since Day One of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has led critical discussions over how to bring the Colorado River back from the brink of crisis in the face of a 24-year drought. Having achieved overwhelming success in 2023 on interim operation plans to guide operations through 2026 with a historic consensus agreement, and following more than a year of collaboration with the states and Tribes who call the Colorado River Basin home, the U.S. Department of Interior today released the next step in a responsible path to guide post-2026 operations for the Colorado River.
Today, the Department released five proposed alternatives that will be analyzed as part of the Post-2026 Operations for the Colorado River. These alternatives represent a wide range of actions that respond to a broad spectrum of hydrology for the Colorado River Basin and reflect elements from proposals submitted by Basin states, Tribes, cooperating agencies and non-governmental organizations, as well as ongoing conversations and collaborations with all Basin stakeholders. As Basin partners continue to work towards a consensus agreement, the range of alternatives provides the framework for a realistic and fair path to meet the goals and needs of the communities and users that rely on this important and diminishing water source. This range includes a "Basin Hybrid Alternative," that is designed to reflect components from the proposals and concepts submitted by the Upper Division States, Lower Division States, and Tribal Nations to present elements that could provide a basis for coordinated operations and may facilitate greater agreement across the Basin. All five alternatives will be formally analyzed to ensure the long-term stability of the Colorado River Basin for all of the communities and habitats that rely on it.
"With historic investments, the Department of the Interior has successfully fostered an unprecedented level of collaboration and partnerships with Colorado River Basin states and Tribes," said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis. "We continue to support and encourage all partners as they work toward another consensus agreement that will both protect the long-term stability of the Colorado River Basin and meet the needs of all communities. The alternatives we have put forth today establish a robust and fair framework for a Basin-wide agreement. As this process moves forward, the Biden-Harris administration has laid the foundation to ensure that these future guidelines and strategies can withstand any uncertainty ahead, and ultimately provide greater stability to the 40 million water users and the public throughout the Colorado River Basin."
"In the face of a climate change-fueled mega drought, communities and ecosystems in the Colorado River Basin need both near-term and long-term solutions to ensure the stability of this precious resource for generations to come," said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy. "Over the past four years, thanks to the resources from President Biden's Investing in America agenda and our Administration's efforts to work with states and Tribes, the future of the Colorado River Basin is much brighter. The alternatives released today will help support ongoing efforts for all Basin partners to reach consensus on a sustainable path forward that will help ensure that Colorado River Basin communities are healthy and thriving, now and into the future."
"As the West continues to face drought conditions, now is the time for more investment, innovation and collaboration for urgent and essential progress across the Colorado River Basin. The river is one of our nation's most invaluable natural resources – providing clean water, hydro-power and habitat for more than 40 million people, 30 Tribal Nations, and a wide diversity of species. When the Basin was on the brink of collapse, the Biden-Harris administration helped bring it back – thanks to historic investments from President Biden's Investing in America agenda," said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. "Those efforts helped stabilize the Colorado River for the short-term – but now, we owe it to future generations to find long-term solutions that ensure the river's continued stability. Harnessing the best-available science, the Administration today continues to lead the Basin to stability by offering a framework that will build a more sustainable and equitable future for communities across the West. We continue to encourage all Basin partners to find a consensus agreement that meets the needs of all the river's users."
Over the last three years, the Biden-Harris administration has led a comprehensive effort to make Western communities more resilient to climate change and address the ongoing mega-drought across the region by harnessing the full resources of President Biden's historic Investing in America agenda. As climate change has accelerated over the past two decades, the Colorado River Basin experienced the driest period in the region in over one thousand years. Together, the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provide the largest investment in climate resilience in our nation's history, including $15.4 billion for western water across federal agencies to enhance the West's resilience to drought and deliver unprecedented resources to protect the Colorado River System for all whose lives and livelihoods depend on it. This includes $5.35 billion for over 577 projects in the Colorado River Basin states alone.
In June 2023, the Department initiated the formal process to develop future operating guidelines and strategies to protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River for future generations. The release of the proposed alternatives sets the basin on a course that allows for timely development of final operating guidelines. This is a step that must be taken by August 2026 to inform future operations – the existing guidelines expire in December 2026. Today's announcement comes as Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton convenes the ninth Federal–Tribal–State forum, an unprecedented working group created under Secretary Haaland's leadership to bring the seven Basin states and 30 Tribes together to regularly discuss the shape and substance of post-2026 operations.
"We have worked tirelessly over the past several years to bring Colorado River Basin stakeholders together for a transparent and inclusive post-2026 process that has fostered collaboration and compromise. Importantly, we have also put Tribal governments at the table for the first time in history," said Commissioner Touton. "Today, we show our collective work. These alternatives represent a responsible range from which to build the best and most robust path forward for the Basin. I have confidence in our partners and the Reclamation team in continuing this work to meet the needs of the river for the future."
Addressing the Short-Term Crisis.
The lifeblood of the American West, the Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million people and fuels hydro-power resources in seven U.S. states. It is a crucial resource for 30 Tribal Nations and two states in Mexico, and it supports 5.5 million acres of agriculture and agricultural communities across the West, in addition to important ecosystems and endangered species. In 2021, historic drought along the river brought the communities it serves to a near crisis. This mega-drought diminished the river's largest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — to critically low elevations. Ravaged by the climate crisis, extreme drought, and unsustainable water use, this vital artery was drained to perilous lows, jeopardizing agriculture, urban areas, and ecosystems.
To provide decisive intervention and bold action, the Biden-Harris administration launched an all-of-government approach to address the short-term risk and set the stage for the development of long-term solutions to help avoid a similar crisis in the future. By collaborating with states, Tribes, federal partners and interested stakeholders – the Department paired innovative investments through President Biden's Investing in America agenda with operational strategies to address water shortages and promote sustainable management. The consensus agreement for near-term operations, announced in 2023, stabilized the system in the short-term, as the Department embarked on the broader effort to address long-term conservation needs. Today, Lake Mead is replenished, up nearly 20 feet from two years ago, and Lake Powell has rebounded 50 feet. The lower Basin states and the Country of Mexico are on track to save 1.6 million acre-feet by the end of 2024, an unprecedented level of conservation for the Colorado River Basin.
President Biden's Investing in America Agenda.
President Biden's Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate resilience in the nation's history and is providing much-needed resources to enhance Western communities' resilience to drought and climate change. Reclamation is leveraging nearly $13 billion in critical investments across the west through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
These funds have helped the federal government secure a series of historic water conservation agreements across the Basin states, while investing in state-of-the-art upgrades to the West's aging water infrastructure, including innovative projects that support water distribution structures, water storage capacity, advanced metering infrastructure, canal lining, farm efficiency improvements, recycling and desalinating water, and more. These investments have been essential in reducing water demand through voluntary water conservation incentives, while also investing in infrastructure upgrades and long-term strategies to maximize water resources.
Charting a Path Forward.
The post-2026 process is a multi-year effort to identify a range of alternatives and ultimately determine operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead and other water management actions in a future of persistent drought and increasing climate variability. These operations will be critical in defining water allocations for cities and agriculture, guiding future management, and guarding against the need for the kind of short-term fix the Biden-Harris administration successfully negotiated and completed earlier this year.
Guided by the lessons learned and best practices developed through the Department's short-term effort and using the best-available science, Reclamation analyzed how future operational guidelines and strategies can be sufficiently robust and adaptive to withstand a broad range of hydro-logical conditions and ultimately provide greater stability to water users and the public throughout the Colorado River Basin.
In addition to public comment, virtual seminars, frequent meetings with the Basin states and the Federal-Tribal-State forum, Reclamation has conducted 30 nation-to-nation consultations and held 40 Tribal Information Exchanges to ensure ongoing dialogue and information sharing. To date, Department staff have visited and met with each Basin state Governor or designee and have visited more than half of the 30 Colorado River Tribes on their own land – a demonstration of the Administration's commitment to meaningful nation-to-nation engagement.
Reclamation will now analyze these alternatives to develop a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Once published, the draft EIS will include a public comment period. This puts Reclamation on a path to publish a final EIS, which would then be followed by a Record of Decision in 2026.
While the post-2026 process will determine domestic operations, the Biden-Harris administration has collaborated with the Country of Mexico in recognition of their equities in the Basin. The International Boundary and Water Commission will continue to facilitate consultations between the United States and Mexico on Binational Cooperative Processes under the 1944 Water Treaty.
Picture of the states served by the Colorado River and story about Colorado River Day reported by Ob Rag in 2012 provides additional background.
