Bonnie Colby and Zoey Reed-Spitzer: Access to water, a concern around the globe, is constrained in many areas of the Colorado River Basin (CRB) by water scarcity, pollution and lack of delivery and treatment infrastructure. These constraints disproportionately affect the basin’s Native American, Hispanic and Black populations, groups which often have lower access to resources …
Jack Schmidt on New Mexico water managers’ pushing 1,700 cfs down the Rio Grande in the middle of December to tidy up our annual Rio Grande Compact accounting: Thanks for the reminder of the tragedy of moving water at the wrong time of year when that water provides no ecological benefit. If that water were …
The Sunday bike ride included a brief detour to check out the river. The Rio Grande was flowing at 1,700 cfs, the highest sustained flows of the year, as water managers move water downstream to meet their annual Rio Grande Compact accounting goals. The “Happy Holidays” graffiti is, of course, there year ‘round. I love …
Continue reading ‘Happy Holidays From a Flowing Rio Grande’ »
By Jack Schmidt | December 3, 2025 Autumn Rains Delay Basin-wide Reservoir Depletion In BriefUnusually wet conditions in the Basin in October and November 2025, combined with reduced releases from some reservoirs, led to a basin-wide increase in storage for the two-month period. The combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead increased during the …
Continue reading ‘Autumn Rains Delay Colorado River Basin-wide Reservoir Depletion’ »
It’s important to understand that the Rio Grande is not a natural system. It’s an engineered system. It’s managed on a daily basis by a consortium of agencies at all different levels of government plus municipal water users and irrigation districts. So partly, (drying is) a product of decisions. It is also clearly a product …
Wednesday family lunch included tacos at El Paisa on Bridge just west of the river, and then a drive to the Los Padillas Cemetery in the far south valley. I love cemeteries because they speak to some deep values, and I’ve taken to using them as a teaching tool for our UNM Water Resources Program …
Continue reading ‘The Value of Water in Alternative Uses, Cemetery Edition’ »
California’s projected use of Colorado River water this year, 3.76 million acre feet as of Reclamation’s Oct. 29 modeling runs, would be, as near as I can tell, the state’s lowest use since 1949. Also notable: Nevada’s 197,280 acre feet would be the lowest since 1992. The two lowest years in Imperial Irrigation District’s history …
For the first time in more than a century, salmon have reached the headwaters of the Klamath River Basin, a milestone made possible by the removal of four major dams along the California–Oregon border. The event marks a defining moment for both environmental restoration and the communities of southern Oregon that depend on the river’s …
Continue reading ‘Salmon return to the Klamath headwaters’ »
In carrying out its treaty obligations with the Indian tribes, the Government is something more than a mere contracting party. Under a humane and self imposed policy which has found expression in many acts of Congress and numerous decisions of this Court, it has charged itself with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust. …
Continue reading ‘Administration proposes budget cuts for Tribal clean water initiatives’ »