Colorado River

Releases from Glen Canyon Dam into the Colorado River are on the low side right now. But if they fall much more, commercial river rafters worry it could fundamentally change their livelihoods and the nature of boating in the Grand Canyon.

The estimate pops up again and again in reporting on the West’s most important waterway, but one researcher thinks it might be slightly high. That might point to a bigger problem.

Federal officials are considering cool water releases for the third consecutive year at Glen Canyon Dam in Northern Arizona this summer to safeguard the humpback chub, a federally protected fish.

It's not clear yet how the money would be distributed among several states in a river basin where political fights and an impasse over how to share water long-term have persisted even during historic drought.

A federal hydrologist appeared to be momentarily at a loss for words Thursday as he described how dire the latest forecast has gotten for how much water will flow through the Colorado River Basin this summer.

A proposal from Arizona, California and Nevada would cut back on water and prop up Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

The federal Colorado Basin River Forecast Center says just 1.4 million acre feet of Colorado River water is expected to reach Lake Powell through July — less than a quarter of what's considered normal.

New Mexico water negotiator Estevan López said talks resumed this month, and the upper and lower basin states are using a short-term pitch from Nevada as a starting point.

Tribal leaders testified before a Senate committee in support of a landmark agreement that would provide Colorado River water to the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.

Possible scenarios could include significant water reductions in Lower Basin states like Arizona or new incentives for states to conserve water.