This year’s snowpack is grim throughout the Colorado River Basin—it’s the lowest in recorded history. Reservoirs across the Basin are low. Soils are dry.
But agriculture, municipalities, Tribes, and conservation groups are not waiting around to see what happens next. They are implementing projects now to boost water efficiency, conserve more water, and improve the watersheds and landscapes that provide us with water in the first place.
And they are pressing for additional investments to ensure these types of projects continue into the future.
Recently, the National Audubon Society joined more than 70 groups from around the Colorado River Basin in a letter calling on Congress to “act decisively to provide targeted federal investment in the Colorado River Basin to ensure water, food, and energy security while sustaining rivers and natural systems for the communities and economies that rely on it.”
To deal with the immediate challenge before us, the letter calls for $2 billion in new federal funding for a near-term drought mitigation program to help stabilize, strengthen, and build long-term resilience into the Colorado River system.
Investing now to mitigate the impacts of drought and help water users and the environment adapt is crucial, and it costs less than emergency crisis management down the line. Resilience is a long-term investment. Near-term funding helps move the Basin from reactive emergency response toward greater stability and preparedness.
And various groups from across the Basin — agricultural producers, municipal water providers, conservation organizations, Tribal Nations, hydropower stakeholders, and local communities — are aligned on the need for near-term federal investment.
Let’s not forget that investments from the federal government helped build the modern West and created the foundation for the now 40 million people, $1.4 trillion economy, seven states, and 30 Tribes that share this lifeline of a river in the United States. And the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program continues to invest in proven drought resilience solutions while we look towards stability Basin-wide.
So, what would funding deliver?
- Agricultural and municipal conservation and efficiency investments that help stretch limited supplies
- Drought response tools to promote proactive infrastructure operations and protect critical reservoir elevations
- Saving more water in reservoirs to help safeguard infrastructure, hydropower generation, and water deliveries
- Voluntary, compensated water conservation measures that deliver measurable benefits while supporting agriculture, local communities, and rural and urban economies
- Direct Tribal access to funding for water infrastructure, conservation, drought response, and resilience priorities
- Wildfire risk reduction, habitat improvements, improved watershed health and water reliability, and source-water protection
The Basin must stabilize the present situation in order to plan for the future. Federal funding for both Upper and Lower Basins is desperately needed, regardless of where interstate post-2026 negotiations stand. Furthermore, the Arizona Legislature and Governor Hobbs have an opportunity to provide state cost share to federal funding by including $30 million for the Colorado River Protection Fund.
With serious hydrologic conditions demanding attention now, Congress and the Colorado River Basin states can reduce risk by investing strategically while laying the groundwork for long-term resilience and a Basin that is less dependent on emergency operations.
