The stakes of this decision are high for California, which receives the largest share of water from the Colorado River. The Biden administration released its options more than two months after officials from California and six other states presented two conflicting proposals for water reductions. Under one alternative, the federal government would consider making water reductions based predominantly on the existing priority system for water rights. In the Rocky Mountains, the snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin now measures 149% of the average since 1986, making it one of the largest snowpacks since 1980. “Drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin have been two decades in the making,” Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 11, 2023 21:47 UTC