New report outlines solutions to protect Colorado River from drying up
October 3, 2025
DENVER — The Colorado River is regarded as the hardest working river in the American West, serving more than 40 million people while supporting agriculture, hydropower and ecosystems.
The guidelines that manage this critical resource expire at the end of 2026, and stakeholders must decide how to share the Colorado River moving forward. That’s easier said than done.
The Colorado River Basin is composed of seven states. The Upper Basin states are Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, while the Lower Basin states are Arizona, California, and Nevada. The headwaters of the Colorado River begin in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).
The Colorado River also provides water to two states in Mexico and is a crucial resource for 30 tribal nations. Forty percent of the water in Colorado is supplied by the Colorado River.
“We had a river that was really big back when we negotiated the initial compact, an interstate agreement among all seven states on the river which was ratified by Congress,” said James Eklund, a Western water lawyer. “But everybody agreed that we should have an agreement that has some parameters about who gets to use how much water, and that was in 1922 — so, over 100 years ago now — and the compact has performed well, but the river has not.”
Eklund, who used to represent Colorado in negotiations on managing the river, said there are serious demands that require this resource.
“There’s 40 million people on this river and some very big users, in terms of our economy, our agribusiness, how we grow our food, the computer chips that we use are now fabricated inside the Colorado River Basin,” Eklund said. “Water has to get to those demands in order for our economy to continue to function at the level we want it to.”
This summer, the Department of the Interior requested a preliminary agreement from the seven states by mid-November. A final agreement between the states on the proposal is expected by February 2026, and the goal is to have an official decision on how to proceed by the summer of 2026. The new management guidelines ought to be implemented in 2027.
“The federal government really wants the states to lead in this space and come together and develop a new seven-state agreement. The problem is that doesn’t seem, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen by the deadline, November 11,” Eklund said. “If they don’t, then really it falls on our federal government to operate Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which are the two biggest reservoirs in the nation. And there’s a lot of uncertainty, as you can imagine, with how that would look and who would be cut and who wouldn’t be, what water would be released from reservoirs that sit up above Lake Powell, and what water would be allowed to remain in those storage reservoirs.”
According to Eklund, this is a pivotal time to be engaged and invested in the future of the Colorado River.
Right on cue, a number of environmental organizations released a new report that outlines what they believe are nine solutions to help support the river and stakeholders through this process.
The analysis was brought about by the Great Basin Water Network and its Colorado River partners, including Save the Colorado.
“The report that we came out with yesterday, with a coalition of environmental groups, is trying to insert some sanity and some transparency into the chaos around the Colorado River, how it’s managed, and what it’s going to do next,” explained Gary Wockner, director of Save the Colorado. “We don’t know exactly what they’re doing because it is not a transparent process, but it’s important to us to reach out to the public and provide some public leadership. So, that’s the main reason why we did this.”
- Read the full report below
The report outlines nine recommendations, which are as follows:
- RECOMMENDATION 1: Forgo New Dams and Diversions
- RECOMMENDATION 2: All States Need Curtailment Plans
- RECOMMENDATION 3:The “Natural Flow” Plan Won’t Work Until There Are Better Data
- RECOMMENDATION 4: Alter Glen Canyon Dam to Protect the Water Supply for 25 Million People
- RECOMMENDATION 5: Curtailing Junior Users to Serve Tribes
- RECOMMENDATION 6: Tackle Municipal Waste And Invest In Reuse Basinwide
- RECOMMENDATION 7: Protect Endangered Species
- RECOMMENDATION 8: Make Farms Resilient to New Realities
- RECOMMENDATION 9: Stabilize Groundwater Decline
“There’s only so much water in the river, and over the last 20 years, we’ve been in a severe drought that the scientists are claiming is caused by climate change. And so the amount of water is going down, and the number of people are going up,” Wockner said, explaining the issues impacting the Colorado River. “You have this collision course of supply of water and the demand for it, and so there’s more and more people wanting more and more water, at the same time as the amount of water is going further and further down, and the scientists are predicting there’s going to be even less and less water in the coming 10, 20, 30, 40, years.”
The report advocates for less water usage among all parties, with a shared sense of responsibility among the stakeholders.
Denver7 asked Wockner which recommendations would impact Colorado the most.
“The most important recommendation is to stop draining the river. Stop building new dams and reservoirs when you’re in a hole, stop digging,” Wockner said. “The second recommendation is that every state should be required to take cuts, not just the states in the Lower Basin, but also the states in the Upper Basin, including the State of Colorado. And right now, the State of Colorado is publicly saying that they are refusing to take any cuts. And so, that is a very inflammatory statement. If they’re going to actually reach an agreement, they’ve got to pull back from that and start negotiating amicably and in a collaborative way with all the other states.”
Eklund reviewed the recommendations in the report and divided them into three categories: stop making the problem worse, plan for water usage cuts in a fair manner, and make existing supplies work harder. While he agreed overall with the recommendations in the report, there were some that he did not believe were feasible.
“It says the quiet part out loud. We don’t have any new water to develop on the Colorado River. So, the job now is to use less,” Eklund said about the report. “The first one [recommendation] out of the gate is no more dams, no more reservoirs. I think that that is just, as a blanket prohibition, shortsighted. The reason is because when we conserve water in a system like the Colorado River, or the South Platte that we’re in today, we really need a place to store that conserved water so that we can release it for use when it makes sense to release it. If you just put a blanket prohibition on storage, and you know, moving forward with construction of reservoirs where they’re strategically needed, it’s really not acknowledging that dynamic, and that doesn’t do us any favors.”
When it comes to cuts in Colorado water consumption, another recommendation from the environmental groups, Eklund said the idea likely will not be received well, but “probably” needs to happen.
“We can either author our own destiny on how those cuts occur, or they will be offered to us or forced down our throat, more likely,” Eklund explained.
Eklund, who has a ranch on the Western Slope, said if there are limitations on water usage in Colorado, there ought to be a state incentive to use less water for those in agriculture.
“I, as a rancher and a water rights holder in Colorado, do not want my state to come to me and say, ‘We might need you to use less.’ But if that’s inevitable, then I would rather be compensated for using less than being told that I have to curtail my use independent of any compensation or without it,” Eklund suggested. “If we don’t do that, then the choices are going to get made for us, and we can sue. I’m a lawyer, so I always have to throw that out there. Suits in between and among states go straight up to the US Supreme Court on original jurisdiction, and Colorado has been privy to many of those lawsuits, and we know they take decades to resolve. We know they take millions of dollars of taxpayer money to defend and to prosecute, and so we are better served by getting a deal done.”
Denver7 reached out to Commissioner Becky Mitchell, who represents Colorado in the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC). Mitchell negotiates on behalf of Colorado when it comes to the management of the Colorado River, and sent Denver7 a lengthy response to the report.
“As the conclusion of this report emphasizes, it’s important to recognize the limits of the Colorado River and what it can supply. This is the ethos of the entire Upper Colorado River Basin,” Mitchell said in her statement. “This report does not recognize the impacts of shortages already occurring in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico because of a 25-year mega drought fueled by climate change.”
The statement from Mitchell continued to say that the crisis involving Lake Mead and Lake Powell is “a result of the current operating regime,” and has “insulated the Lower Basin from the impacts of increased uncertainty of water availability.” Mitchell said that allowed for “deliveries to the Lower Basin that exceed what hydrology provides. In order to have success for the future, all must adapt to this reality.”
According to Mitchell, water users in the Upper Basin are regularly curtailed by state engineers based on the physical and legal availability of water supplies, while “proactively and aggressively” shutting off water users “when required under state priority administration.”
Mitchell’s office also provided data showing the stark contrast in water usage between the Upper and Lower Basin states.
- Read the full statement from Commissioner Becky Mitchell below:
As the conclusion of this report emphasizes, it’s important to recognize the limits of the Colorado River and what it can supply. This is the ethos of the entire Upper Colorado River Basin. This report does not recognize the impacts of shortages already occurring in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico because of a 25 year mega drought fueled by climate change.The crisis at Lake Mead and Lake Powell is a result of the current operating regime that has insulated the Lower Basin from the impacts of increased uncertainty of water availability. It has allowed for deliveries to the Lower Basin that exceed what hydrology provides. In order to have success for the future, all must adapt to this reality.
Water users in the Upper Basin are curtailed regularly by our respective State Engineers based on physical and legal availability of water supplies. In the Upper Basin, we proactively and aggressively shut off water users when required under state priority administration. This has been happening throughout the millennium drought and well before 2022, when the Lower Basin experienced its first-ever shortages. Due to the severity of the drought in the Upper Basin and because we do not have a Lake Powell or Mead above us, even our most senior water users who have rights dating from the 1800s are being shut off, resulting in mandatory conserved consumptive use.
Colorado water users are required to take mandatory and uncompensated shortages that average 600,000 acre-feet annually in Colorado alone. Shortage estimates over the last 24 years in the Upper Division States vary between 600,000 and 2.3 MAF per year. The average is 1.3 MAF per year. These estimates are based on verifiable data and are relative to actual, demonstrated demands – what people would put to beneficial use if that water were physically and legally available.
It’s important to note that the Upper Basin collectively uses millions of acre-feet LESS than our Compact apportionment. Meanwhile, the Lower Basin has become accustomed to volumes of water much greater than their Compact apportionment. The Compact is a contract among the seven Basin States – because the 1922 Compact secured water in the Colorado River for the Upper Basin in perpetuity, Colorado has been able to rely on that promise to develop at our own pace. But without large reservoirs above us, Upper Basin water users have and will continue to use within available supplies.
Any and all new projects in the Upper Basin will use water subject to the physically and legally available supply. This is how water users have adapted in the Upper Basin for decades and will continue to do so. A water right is simply a place in line – if the water is not available, that water user will not receive it. It does not guarantee the delivery of water. Upper Basin water users regularly use far less than what they are apportioned, facing shortages of greater than 60% in many cases. When operated as intended, reservoirs provide the opportunity to store water in wet years for use in dry years – in recent years, management of Powell and Mead do not reflect this.
Additionally, it is important to recognize that one component of the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan is called Intentionally Created Surplus (ICS), which is not a form of curtailment. ICS allows the Lower Basin the ability to bank water in Lake Mead for future use. ICS accounting mechanisms have created the ability for Lower Basin States to avoid shortages because they can rely on previously banked water to offset their shortages. And despite these efforts and even significant precipitation in the Lower Basin in recent years, Lake Mead continues to decline to critically low levels.
The Basin’s focus should be on aligning uses with available supplies. The past two decades have illustrated the impacts of mining our nation’s two largest reservoirs. The Bureau of Reclamation should operate these reservoirs as intended– to reserve water in wet years to get the Lower Basin through dry ones. So, when reservoirs are low, uses should be reduced. When reservoirs are healthy, uses can increase. This is the only path to a sustainable solution in the Colorado River Basin.
Municipal water conservation is an important part of long-term sustainability in the Colorado River Basin. It is not the silver bullet, but efforts can and should be employed to reduce water demand within the Basin.
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) has invested millions in municipal water conservation efforts. From 2000 to 2020, Denver and other large cities in Colorado reduced their per capita water use by 20–40%. From 2010 to 2018, Denver Water reported that daily per capita water use dropped by approximately 30 gallons.
Example programs and efforts include:
- Colorado’s Turf Replacement Grant Program was established in January 2023 due to the passage of HB22-1151. A total of $4 million has been allocated to the program. The bill provided $2 million in funding for program startup, management, and local grant initiatives. A second funding infusion from the CWCB Projects Bill brought an additional $2 million in funding to the program in 2024. CWCB has awarded funding to support the voluntary replacement of nonfunctional and high water use turf, including to water utilities, special districts, municipalities, and 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations with a background in turf replacement and water-related projects.
- The CWCB has granted over $13 million for water efficiency, integration of water and land use planning, and water reuse since 2017 and will most likely have another $4-5 million allocated for water efficiency and land use planning projects for fiscal year 25-26. Some CWCB funded work products of note include: Denver One Water Plan, Alamosa County comprehensive plan update to include a strong water element, Western Resources Advocates’ non-essential turf removal study and landscape code change assistance, Colorado State University’s POLARIS tool, and Colorado Waterwise Best Practices Guidebook for Municipal Water Conservation [coloradowaterwise.org]. CWCB is currently managing 58 water conservation grants.
- The CWCB has been implementing the Colorado Water Loss Initiative (CWLI) since 2018. The program trains water providers in the American Water Works Association M36 methodology for water loss control and management – the industry standard.
- CWCB has funded the Colorado Growing Water Smart program – a 2-3 day intensive workshop where water planners, land use planners and elected officials create an action plan for integrating water and land use planning . This CWCB has supported this effort since 2017 and is led by the Sonoran Institute, the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, and a coalition of volunteer facilitators. The program has trained more than 60 communities that represent almost 70% of the state’s population and provided financial and technical assistance to execute projects. The program has since been exported to Utah, Arizona, California and the border region of Mexico/Arizona.
- Water Reuse continues to be a major topic for Colorado. The state’s largest water provider has plans to build enough recycled water infrastructure to offset the potable water equivalent of serving approximately 43,000 households. Colorado has a regulation for non-potable reuse that allows for irrigation, industrial uses and, most recently, for edible crops. Additionally, Colorado has also enacted legislation that allows for onsite greywater use in cities where their local water rights, codes, permitting and regulation allow it.
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