Continued from front page F E A T U R E


“What we are trying to do with this is find the next set of winning ideas,” said Scott Huntley, public information manager with the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and Las Vegas Valley Water District. “What ideas could be expanded upon and developed as conservation ideas.” As River Report went to press, the size and scope of the pilot projects was still being vetted. “If [it’s] money to remove turf,


that’s going to be something that’s permanent,” said Jim Lochhead, chief executive officer and manger of Denver Water. “If it’s fallowing of course, that’s just temporary but there might be other things agencies can do to permanently reduce demand.” Te Upper Basin is currently experi- encing a protracted drought that began in 2000 and has continued through 2014 despite a very wet year in 2011. Te entire Colorado River Basin is


collectively struggling with water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which are well below 50 percent capacity. Formed behind Hoover Dam, Lake Mead holds more than 28 million acre- feet of water when full and supplies virtually all the water for the city of Las Vegas. Coordinating the operations of the two reservoirs is a carefully orches- trated process that hinges on the vagaries of the Colorado Rockies snowpack. (An acre foot is approximately 326,000 gallons and can supply the annual needs of two urban households.) If conditions don’t improve, Lake


Powell could potentially drop below the minimum elevation necessary to operate the Glen Canyon Dam hydropower plant within the next 10 years. In addi- tion, this past fall Lake Mead reached low levels that had not been seen in decades. If this trend continues, Lake Mead could drop below elevations that are critical for providing a municipal supply for the city of Las Vegas. Te Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), which operates Glen Canyon Dam,


“From the Upper Basin perspective, we are focused on maintaining Lake Powell above minimum power pool.”


– Jim Lochhead, Denver Water


believes there is an increasing likeli- hood that Lake Powell could drop to, or below, the minimum power-pool level required to operate the hydroelec- tric generators in 2018. If the pattern materializes, the level could stay below the power pool for years. Glen Canyon Dam produces about 4.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually. Te Colorado River Compact re-


quires the Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) not to deplete the flow of the river below 7.5 million acre-feet during any period of 10 consecutive years. Every Upper Basin reservoir is potentially subject to calls from the Lower Basin and could see their storage depleted.


Officials with agencies dependent


on Lake Powell and Lake Mead believe funding further efforts to reduce water use is a critical proactive effort to pre- vent future calamity. “From the Upper Basin perspective,


we are focused on maintaining Lake Powell above minimum power pool,” Lochhead said. His agency is teaming with the Rec- lamation, SNWA, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) in offering $11 million to fund innovative water savings programs. “Tis partnership demonstrates our commitment to find solutions in meeting the future challenges we face in water supply and demand,” said Terry Fulp, director of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado regional office. “Our goal is to put in place a suite of proactive, voluntary measures that will reduce our risk of reaching critical reservoir levels.


Tis pilot program is a good first step toward reaching that goal and, depend- ing upon its success, could be expanded in the future.” According to Reclamation, “all water


conserved under this program will stay in the river system, helping to boost the declining reservoir levels and protecting the health of the entire river system.” In a statement released by Denver


Water, Frank Daley, president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, said the pilot “is not a one-sector or one-state solution” but instead an effort that “will demonstrate the viability of cooperative means to reduce water demand from any number of different sources where water is lost or consumed – agriculture, municipal and industrial.” Representatives of the major water utilities said more will be needed later. “We know $11 million is a just drop in the bucket, it’s a dent,” said Bill Hasencamp, Colorado River Program manager with MWD. “It’s really to gain information and see who is interested and what options are out there. At the end of two years we’ll see how we did and if there’s funding and appetite to do a larger-type project.” Te effort is driven by the need to keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell above critical water elevations. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was first filled upon completion of the Hoover Dam in


Now Available! 2013 Colorado


River Symposium


Proceedings Tis 136-page book can be ordered on-line at www.watereducation.org under the Publications and Products tab.


Winter 2014-2015 • River Report • Colorado River Project • 3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11