The Bureau of Reclamation released its Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Colorado River system on Aug. 7. The document establishes a preferred 10-year management framework for the river that supplies water to approximately 40 million people across the American West.
The Final EIS covers management of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the nation’s two largest reservoirs, and represents the defining federal water policy document for seven western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The adaptive management framework designates how the federal government will allocate water under varying hydrological conditions, including the severe drought that has pushed reservoir levels to historic lows in recent years. The document also governs hydropower generation at Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams.
The Colorado River compact, first negotiated in 1922, has been under intense renegotiation as climate conditions and population growth have rendered historical water allocations unsustainable. The Final EIS follows years of litigation, negotiation and political conflict among basin states.
Beyond municipal water supply, the river irrigates more than five million acres of farmland producing crops valued in the billions of dollars, making the management framework a critical economic document for western agriculture.
The EIS’s preferred alternative will guide federal decision-making through the mid-2030s, providing a degree of predictability for water managers, farmers, cities and energy utilities that depend on the river system.
Mexico, which receives a treaty-guaranteed allocation from the Colorado River, is also affected by the management framework. The EIS addresses cross-border water delivery obligations.
Public comment on the Final EIS has concluded, and the Bureau of Reclamation is expected to issue a Record of Decision formalizing the selected management approach.