Three Drop Thursday: All Things CRB plus a few words from Mildred
Friends of Confluence West -
Welcome to Three Drop Thursday, a snapshot of what we’ve been paying attention to this week. In this issue, all things CRB: the confusing, the bad, and some tough western water history.
We’ve all seen the plethora of CRB stories the past few months, with headlines ranging from “Water Cuts from Arizona, other states to help Colorado River” to “Federal government’s short-term Colorado River stabilization plan paints a rosy picture” to “New federal plan aims to ensure Colorado River’s sustainability through 2026.”
Where does the all-elusive ‘truth’ lie? Our take: The 2022-23 wet winter saved our posteriors, giving Reclamation breathing room to figure out the 2026 Interim Guidelines. Beyond that, look at the science – as Brad Udall notes, “every trend is moving in the wrong direction.”
Moving away from all those grim notes, Mildred has an important request.
In case you missed everything you ever wanted to know about two new important studies: Building water resilience in the face of cascading wildfire risks and the (surprisingly excellent) report of the National Wildfire Commission check out our November 2 Three Drop edition.
For the West,
Kimery
Good news, suspect news & not happy news
Land Desk has a succinct the-Emperor-not-quite-fully-clothed piece on all the CRB numbers being thrown around. (The story builds partly on Jack Schmidt’s analysis; see below.) Not only is this piece suitable to use when attempting for the seventy-ninth time to explain the current situation to your friends and relatives who can’t figure out what in the heck you’re talking about most of the time, the reporter also gets snaps for including an Instagram link.
In his recent analysis, Jack Schmidt, the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State, notes: “During October 2023, total basin storage declined by 330,000 acre-feet of which the combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead declined by 90,000 acre-feet. Most of the decline in basin storage was in reservoirs upstream from Lake Powell. To put these numbers into context, 330,000 acre-feet is more Colorado River water than the state of Nevada consumes in an entire year.”
He adds, “Although the wet year has taken the edge off the looming crisis of critical water shortage, we need to remember our long-term goal—continuing to work hard to conserve the bounty of WY2023.”
Photo: Lighthawk Conservation Flying/The Water Desk
Read past the screamer headline
Don’t stop at this article’s headline thinking that you already know what the story is about: “Twenty families in the Imperial Valley received a whopping 386.5 billion gallons of the river’s water last year — more than three Western states.”
This fascinating piece from Janet Wilson, Mark Olalde, and the ProPublica team dives into the history of why today only 20 farmers in the Imperial Irrigation District have the senior water rights to more CRB water than three Basin states combined. They explore how this handful of families came to control so much of the West’s most valuable river, a story that includes some very ugly racist history.
Talk to the sheep
Most of you have already met Mildred on our Three Drop masthead. Peering over her glasses, she says what’s what. While she would disagree that she’s pretty silly, she firmly believes the world needs more chuckling.
Mildred asks everyone to please support our work with a tax-deductible contribution. She points out she could give a long lecture or publish a 20-page annual report about the great work Carpe Diem West (DBA Confluence West) has been doing in 2023, but she thinks that if you want to know more, you can always check out the website (or email us with your questions.)
Mildred and all her humans say, “Thank you!”
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