Colorado River

The latest Utah news from Friday evening, April 16, 2021.

The Colorado River’s biggest reservoirs are likely to drop to historically low levels later this year, prompting mandatory conservation by some of the river’s heaviest users.

Tribes in the Colorado River basin are calling for more influence in how the climate-stressed river is managed. As negotiations kick off on a new set of rules for river management, tribal leaders are optimistic, but they say they need concrete proof their perspectives will be heard.

The latest Utah news from Tuesday evening, March 16, 2021.

The latest Utah news from Wednesday evening, March 3, 2021.

Gene Shawcroft, Utah’s newest Upper Colorado River Commissioner, will be in charge of renegotiating rights to the river. KUER’s Lexi Peery spoke with him about how the state is preparing for talks related to the river.

The decision of who gets to sit at the table, whose interests are represented, and what’s on the menu is still very much in flux. But the uncertainty isn’t stopping would-be participants from voicing concerns they feel leaders in the southwestern watershed can no longer ignore.

The latest Utah news from Thursday evening, February 25, 2021.

The Colorado River Authority bill advances to the full Senate after being amended to be more in line with open meeting and record laws.

Colorado River usage is a hot topic right now, and scholars recently discussed how John Wesley Powell, an explorer who chartered the region, would think about it.

The bill would create an authority that would work on negotiations related to the Colorado River. The bill also allows the group to hold closed-door meetings.

Dry conditions are the worst they’ve been in almost 20 years across the Colorado River watershed, which acts as the drinking and irrigation water supply for 40 million people in the American Southwest.