Morgan
@cowaternerd.bsky.social
Western water policy and river obsessed. Best discussed while floating on said water.
Over and over again the solutions that are proposed for water shortages in the West are based on current tools, like in-stream flow programs, but those fully fail to recognize the scale of the crisis. Fixing this is going to involve creating new tools, not trying to make existing solutions scale.
Trump didn't just eliminate 91% of Bears Ears National Monument — he eliminated the first-of-its-kind tribal commission that has helped manage the monument: www.hcn.org/articles/bea...
Bears Ears cuts also end first-of-its-kind tribal land commission - High Country News
A presidential proclamation slashed the monument by 90% despite a promise to involve tribes.
hcn.org
The dire ‘math problem’ of the Colorado River I asked Anne Castle how far western states’ leaders are from really addressing the crisis. Her answer: Nowhere near. www.latimes.com/environment/...
A dire 'math problem' on the Colorado River and wholly inadequate responses
The Colorado River is severely overtapped and its reservoirs are declining to critically low levels. Experts analyze what it would take to head off disaster.
latimes.com
I'm having a hard time believing my eyes with water data this year. The Colorado River mainstem through Grand Junction was flowing at 54 cfs last night. Not a typo. 54 cfs. Last year on this date it was flowing at 1,420cfs. Even in 2002, the driest year on record, it was at 690cfs on April 22.
Went down to the Colorado River in Grand Junction to see what this very low flow looks like. Plenty of exposed cobble bars. Looking low and slow and what you might expect to see in late summer with heavy diversion upstream. Not the start of spring runoff.
Honestly still in shock by its placement, but my article (and job talk paper), “Indigenous Constitutionalism,” is officially out in the Harvard Law Review. A brief thread on this project🧵 harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...
Indigenous Constitutionalism - Harvard Law Review
By standard accounts, there are fifty-four constitutions across the federal, state, and territorial governments of the United States. But in fact, there are 230 other governmental constitutions that currently govern peoples and territories within the United States. These constitutions not only flow from a sovereignty that existed prior to the United States but also came out of a legal movement that asserted its independence from both the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions. This Article tells the story of these constitutions — the constitutions of Native nations.
harvardlawreview.org
Colorado mountain snow: average year vs. this year. Record low snowpack by a HUGE margin.
This is a graph of snowpack above Lake Powell using 104 snow measuring stations. It was 9 inches of water on March 7, now 6 inches. Other dry years shown.There is no historical analog to this.
Will be interesting to see what a major heat wave does to next month’s projections.
Luke Runyon@lukerunyon.bsky.social · 5mo agoIf the Colorado River crisis is a slow-moving train wreck, the train is about to hit us. New federal forecasts show Lake Powell possibly dropping low enough to lose hydropower production in about 6 months or less. Even more troubling, it could cease producing power for the following *year*.
Things in the CO basin just keep heating up. Literally. The year without summer? Try the year without runoff.
Western US snowpack is still looking BAD. Hope for snow, but plan for low river flows and severe wildfire risk.
the Colorado River - again refusing to honor the Compact that it's bound to
When thinking of solutions for the CO river basin, the scale of the problem far exceeds what is possible with demand management or in stream flow programs. Instead it seems reasonable to think of/address what the downstream (pun intended) impacts of removing water from the land are and address those
Decommissioning/by-passing Glen Canyon Dam, which directly serves Page, AZ for municipal water (they’ll need a new pipe and we should pay) and is a relic to help upper basin states comply with a compact we made up, is step one. It’s basic triage, and it’s the easy step.
As I keep screaming from the rooftop, construction takes time, and we’re out of time! Things only get worse and worse starting around here 3,510’:
Zak 🦦 Podmore@zakpodmore.bsky.social · 6mo agoThey’ve been missing deadlines since 2022. It’s time to end the charade and begin drilling tunnels around the Glen Canyon Dam
They’ve been missing deadlines since 2022. It’s time to end the charade and begin drilling tunnels around the Glen Canyon Dam
Ben Winslow@benwinslow.bsky.social · 6mo agoICYMI, the states along the Colorado River have agreed to keep talking, even though they blew another deadline for a deal: www.fox13now.com/news/colorad... #utpol #Utah
Without an incredible change in the trajectory of winter precipitation in the CO Basin this may be the year we see catastrophic collapse of the system and it really feels like we’re just standing on the tracks watching the train saying “we don’t have the legal authority to step off the track”
New projections out today show Lake Powell -- nation's second largest reservoir -- careening toward a loss of hydropower production as early as July 2026. Even the more optimistic model shows it losing power in December. Meanwhile, the basin's leaders today admit failure on crafting new policy.
A little bit of snow falling in the San Juans the last few days, rain in the mid country, which really brings up the issue: the states can sue each other and the courts can find for whoever they want, but if there’s not enough water to get through Glen Canyon dam, it’s all irrelevant.
Talked about the Colorado River on @kjzz.org: www.kjzz.org/the-show/202... Conversation inspired by my recent @nytimes.com op-ed: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o...
Colorado River states are staring down a Feb. 14 deadline. Here's what might happen next
Arizona’s water future depends on negotiations over Colorado River water that are coming to a head right now.
kjzz.org
“I don't see any plan, any strategy, any end game,” says Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at the University of Vermont. “I don't see anything from this administration, just fuck everything up as much as you can. You can print that.” Sounds accurate to me.
The Fight Over US Climate Rules Is Just Beginning
As the EPA moves to roll back the endangerment finding, which allows it to regulate greenhouse gases, experts predict uncertainty for business and a protracted legal fight.
wired.com
Even with the weekend snows, Upper Colorado River basin snowpack is still at a record low with barely a flake in the 10-day forecast.
As of today we have a new record low snowpack for the Upper Colorado River basin for late January.
Town council presented with flood recovery funding scenarios after FEMA denies funds -- The #PagosaSprings Sun #SanJuanRiver coyotegulch.blog/2026/01/11/t...
Town council presented with flood recovery funding scenarios after FEMA denies funds — The #PagosaSprings Sun #SanJuanRiver
Total precipitation (inches) from 9-15 October 2025 with gridded data from the PRISM Climate Group and observations from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network. Click t…
coyotegulch.blog
My latest in @protectparks.bsky.social's magazine, about a trip down Cataract Canyon to see how drought has drained a reservoir... and revived a river. www.npca.org/articles/112...
Wild River, Ghost Lake
Drought is a crisis for the West. But it has also resurrected a long-lost desert river.
npca.org
Beyond the requisite wondering lost through Vegas casinos, CRWUA started this year with a 1am wake-up by the neighbors drunkenly picking the wrong door to try to open. In Vegas, all who wonder apparently are lost
I don’t envy DOI’s responsibility in the CO basin, but I also don’t envy the position of state negotiators, who have been tasked with solving the water crisis, ensuring their state’s water supply, and complying with a compact that is straight off a Contracts exam asking “why is this void?”
A study in public policy crafted in the dark. Utah's negotiator claims no Colorado River deadline missed, the feds were pleased with progress on a plan... the public just can't see it yet. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: Deadline for Colorado River decision shifts to February
The clock is ticking on short-term interstate deals on water use. A long-term operating plan must be in place by Oct. 1, 2026.
subscriber.politicopro.com
Litigation may take years, but power pool may take months. If it doesn’t start snowing, we’re going to need the construction speed of the dam building era just to avoid dead pool. The question is quickly turning from can we agree/litigate fast enough, to can we build fast enough.
“Litigation could take years, if not decades, to resolve. The effects of aridification are unfolding at a faster rate.” @danielrothberg.bsky.social invisiblewaters.substack.com/p/what-happe...
What happened on the Colorado River?
Negotiating around legal uncertainties as climate change takes its toll.
invisiblewaters.substack.com