The Bureau of Reclamation is weighing whether it can send more than half of the Colorado River’s flows to California and other Lower Basin states each year as part of a new operating plan for the drought-stricken waterway, Wyoming state officials revealed Monday.
Members of the Wyoming Colorado River Advisory Committee on Monday discussed ongoing negotiations for a new long-term operating plan for the waterway at a meeting in Green River, Wyoming.
The seven states that share the drought-stricken river — Arizona, California and Wyoming in the Lower Basin and Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the Upper Basin — have recently coalesced over a concept known as “natural flow,” as they look to reach agreement before a November deadline set by the Bureau of Reclamation.
Among the key points that have yet to be settled, however, is how much water each basin can use annually and what must remain in storage in the reservoirs and to provide hydropower.
