Upper Colorado River Basin states urge planning for a decreasing water supply and an increasing demand

Arms of Lake Powell on the Colorado River fill canyons north of San Juan County’s Navajo
Mountain. Differences in ideas for river water usage between parties representing the Upper
and Lower Colorado River basins must be resolved before federal rules governing the tributary
expire in 2026. National Park Service photo. 

John Rogers 

The members of the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC) have issued a statement calling for states in the full Colorado River Basin to work for a practical, common-sense approach to water management, including plans to deal with a future of increasing demand and decreasing water supply. The statement came following December’s Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas.

The Upper Colorado River Commission consists of a representative from each of the four states in the upper basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Utah is represented by Gene Shawcroft, who leads the Colorado River Authority of Utah. Shawcroft was appointed the Colorado River Commissioner of Utah by Gov. Spencer Cox and is the general manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, the state’s largest water conservancy district.

In addition to Shawcroft, the other members of the UCRC are Brandon Gebhart of Wyoming, Estevan Lopez of New Mexico and Rebecca Mitchell of Colorado.

All seven states in the Colorado River Basin were represented at the Las Vegas conference, divided into two groups: the lower basin — Arizona, California and Nevada — and the upper basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Many of the current federal management rules for Colorado River water use expire in 2026. The Water Users Association conference was, in large part, the basin states working to come up with a new plan.

In November, the Bureau of Reclamation issued a draft proposal outlining five potential options to manage the river’s water usage going forward, including one in which nothing changes. Conference attendees decided that last option is a non-starter.

“The conversations that took place at Colorado River Water Users Association in December confirm that 2025 will be a pivotal year and critical time in the history of the Colorado River,” reads the statement issued by the UCRC. “The representatives of each of the seven Colorado River Basin states unanimously agree that we have a responsibility to come up with a basin-wide consensus solution to managing the Colorado River. Moving forward into 2025, the Upper Division states are committed to working toward a sustainable solution that manages the use of the river within the available supply. All the basin states representatives agreed that everyone must do their part and adapt to the hydrology we have to guide the operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead going forward.”

The UCRC state commissioners cited the following facts and opinions as they continue negotiations with the Lower Basin states in 2025.

“1. There are acute hydrologic shortages in the Upper Basin every year — there simply isn’t enough water in any year to satisfy current needs in the Upper Basin every year.

“2. The Upper Basin has made uncompensated cuts to its water users every year for the past 24 years. The Upper Basin already lives within the means of the river through its management of water rights and uses.

“3. The Upper Basin supports a supply-based approach that shares the water we have through the sustainable operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The Upper Basin and its users are a vital part of the basin-wide system.

“4. The Upper Basin is committed to finding basin-wide solutions to build a sustainable future for all basin states water users, tribes, stakeholders and ecosystems.

“5. We must plan for the river we have, not the river we want.”

“The Upper Basin is committed to meaningful conversations, creative solution-based discussions and open dialogue on the existing alternatives currently on the table while exploring new ideas. The harsh rhetoric and distractions must stop because time is of the essence,” the commission’s statement concluded.

Forty million people depend on the Colorado River as a water source for drinking, irrigation and industry, and there’s simply not enough to go around under current usage numbers after two decades of drought, the commission said. Lake Powell, formed by the Glen Canyon Dam, is holding roughly 35 percent of its total capacity. Lake Mead, above the Hoover Dam, is at about one-third of capacity, according to the Los Angeles Times.

There is, and has long been, a division between upper and lower basin states about how the declining water supply should be protected. At the Las Vegas conference, the lower basin states advocated for their proposal to share cuts across the entire basin. The upper basin, however, proposed only voluntary water cuts among its users, with mandatory cuts downstream in the lower basin states, according to a report in the Denver-based Colorado Sun.

The state negotiators have until August 2026 to come to a management plan. One thing all parties want to avoid is having litigation over a management plan end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, Shawcroft said.