Tag Archives: Colorado River Compact

Colorado snowpack

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Colorado River

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/states/co/snow/state/daily/co_update_snow.pdf

There’s a lot of talk about Colorado snowpack during this month, how it compares to normal or average, etc.  Why does this matter so much, you might ask?  It matters because what happens in Colorado with snow and run off affects more than just Colorado.  The snow in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado affects water rights and resources for up to nine states.  And it all begins in an area just due north of Nederland in a little place I used to work called Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Colorado River.  The mighty Colorado River.  The roiling, rollicking ribbon of brown that is the centerpiece responsible for carving one of the deepest, widest canyons in the world — the Grand Canyon.  The headwaters of this major river of the west can be found in the Never Summer Mountain range in western Rocky Mountain National Park, starting as just a small spring of water coming out of the mountains.

But as the river makes it down into the valley, winding its way westward, picking up more volume and speed as tributary streams make its way into it, more demands are placed on this precious resource.  The waters of the Colorado are so precious that two major dams were constructed along its path to capture its precious water into massive reservoirs, harnessing its power to provide precious water and electricity to desert cities like Las Vegas.

The Colorado River Compact, created in 1922, allocates water rights for the Colorado among seven western states — Arizona, Colorado, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.  The compact was meant as a proactive maneuver that would dictate just how much of the Colorado could be used by each state, thus limiting potential future controversies of water rights.

The growing dependent use on the Colorado’s waters is not without a cost.  While the river used to eventually empty into a delta in Mexico, there is no longer enough water for the river even to make it across the border, with only a muddy streambed to show for it.  The ecosystem of the river has been forever changed where dams have built, stifling plant growth, and blocking the passage of fish.  And of course, recreation, such as fishing and whitewater rafting were forever changed once the Glen Canyon Dam was erected.

Even at our home in Nederland, we have water restrictions.  Living in a rural location, we are on a well and septic system.  Because the snow melt here drains into tributary creeks, which eventually end up in major river basins, water laws limit our use of well water.  We are not allowed to use our well water for any outside purposes, such as growing a garden, washing cars, or other uses.  The only avenue we have to use for outside water is collecting rain water into a cistern.

All this snow and water, so much demand.  Such pressure on the weather Gods to produce enough snow to translate to water for so many who demand its use.  Thankfully, this year we can all breathe a sigh of relief.  The Colorado snow pack is well above normal, and the mighty Colorado is filling up.

Water, Water, Everywhere

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CO River mapWe’ve still got 6-7 inches of snow left over from our mega-snowstorm from last week, and water is oozing from everywhere.  The snow had a very high amount of water content, and as it melts, the soil is becoming saturated with all that water, and there is mud and seeps running everywhere.  This is great news for Colorado heading into the summer season, as it means snow pack levels in the high peaks are at normal and above, and the reservoirs are filling to maximum capacity, including Barker reservoir in Nederland.

It’s amazing how many depend on the snow in the Rocky Mountains, from people like me who live in the mountains to people living in Las Vegas and the seven states who draw on the river from the Colorado River.  The Colorado River headwaters actually begin in northern Rocky Mountain National Park, so the snow that falls just 45 minutes up the road from where I live, can have a huge impact on people living downstream as far as California and southern Arizona.  It is a such a big deal, that a compact was negotiated back in 1922 between the seven states — Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Nevada — and the federal government to decide how water resources would be allocated.  The Colorado River Compact divided the Colorado River Basin into two – an Upper Basin and Lower Basin, with each basin being granted the right to allocate and use 7.5 million acre feet of water annually.

I’m sure at the time, that seemed like a lot of water to use.  But as population in the American Southwest continues to grow, the demand for the water from the Colorado River becomes greater and more hotly contested every year.  So the snow we are receiving now can make a big difference to farmers, public utilities, and even local residents for the next several months.  But it even impacts how us mountain people in Nederland function on a daily basis.

Because the water resources are so precious, those of us who live on a well and septic system must live quite differently than our downstream neighbors in Boulder.  We can not use any water from our well for outside purposes.  The only water we are allowed to collect outside is rainwater off the roof into a cistern.  All those spring bulbs popping up in the valleys are not even option for us, because we can’t water the bulbs when they are planted — we have to depend on Mother Nature.  And given that we can have extreme dry periods in fall, they would probably dry up and die.

We also don’t grow lawns in this part of the country, instead just letting the natural environment provide what it will, in the form of natural grasses and wild shrubs.  Instead of planting flower beds, I throw some wildflower seed in certain wet areas like our septic holding field, and a few of them take and provide bursts of purple and pink as the Columbine and Fireweed bloom.  Even our ability to continue to have indoor water is dependent on those snowy winters.  We are very fortunate in that at the moment we have a well that pumps a lot of water — measured in gallons per minute.  Ours is around 12 gallons per minute, considered quite good.  But a few winters of drought like they are now experiencing in California, could make a huge difference in our ability to continue to have sufficient water for showers, flushing toilets, and washing dishes and clothes.

So when I hear talk of water conservation, I know it’s important to do my part, as it is for all of us who live in the western states.  The melting snows of the Rocky Mountains and our combined community effort will make the difference and determine our very survival for years to come.