- About WIP
- Participating Entities
- Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District
- City of Durango Utility Commission
- Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority
- Dolores Conservation District
- Dolores Water Conservancy District
- Empire Electric Association
- Florida Water Conservancy District
- La Plata Archuleta Water District
- La Plata Electric Association
- La Plata Water Conservancy District
- Mancos Conservation District
- Mancos Water Conservancy District
- Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD)
- Pine River Irrigation District
- San Juan Water Conservancy District
- Southwestern Water Conservation District
- Town of Silverton
- Town of Telluride
- Regional Water Projects
- Animas-La Plata Project (Lake Nighthorse)
- Animas River Stakeholders
- Cloud Seeding Program
- Dolores Project (McPhee Reservoir)
- Dry Gulch Reservoir (Pending)
- Florida Project (Lemon Reservoir)
- Mancos Project (Jackson Gulch Reservoir)
- Long Hollow Reservoir
- Pine River Project (Vallecito Reservoir)
- Rio Blanco Restoration Project
- River Protection Work Group
- Water Information
- Contact WIP
February 20th, 2015
Snowpack in Southwest Colorado is perilously low, averaging only 56 percent in an index of the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan River basins on Wednesday. The basin index measures snowpack at U.S. Department of Agriculture sites around the region. The snowpack at the summit of Wolf Creek Pass was at only 46 percent of the median figure for the date.
In drought-stricken California, ensuring water flows from faucets is nearly as much about energy as it is about the water’s source. Water needs more than gravity to flow from its sources, often hundreds of miles away.
February 18, 2015--Pinching our aquifer piggy banks in California, Colorado and beyond (Mountain Town News)
To grasp the immensity of the groundwater pumping in California during the last century, think back to the last time you flew into Las Vegas. Before descending into McCarran International Airport, you may have swept across Lake Mead. When full, the reservoir is 112 miles long and up to 532 feet deep.
At a time of intense budget pressure at the state and federal level, one senator is calling for a massive outlay of infrastructure dollars. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, introduced a five-year, $1 trillion infrastructure bill last month. The top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders called on lawmakers to stop neglecting infrastructure issues.
February 17, 2015--Expert: overpopulation and city expansion likely cause of future Colorado River Basin water shortages (Grand Canyon News)
Experts say conservation efforts like not watering lawns, taking shorter showers, turning off faucets and not washing your vehicle are not going to help in a long-term solution for water shortages along the Colorado River Basin.
An aging agricultural irrigation project on the Wind River Reservation could receive federal maintenance money to modernize the century-old system. A bill introduced in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs aims to complete 16 unfinished irrigation projects on tribal lands in the United States. Sen.
The role rainforests play through storing carbon in the battle against climate change is well understood, but Deakin University scientists now believe the humble swamp, or freshwater wetland, could be up to 50 times more effective.
California is in the midst of its worst drought in over 1,200 years, exacerbated by record hot temperatures. A new study led by Benjamin Cook at Nasa GISS examines how drought intensity in North America will change in a hotter world, and finds that things will only get worse. Global warming intensifies drought in several ways. In increases evaporation from soil and reservoirs.
In a classic example of government double-speak, the EPA announced this week that Mississippi River Basin states want to speed the reduction of nutrients that cause a huge Gulf of Mexico dead zone, but that they’re pushing back their target date for a cleanup by 20 years.
February 15, 2015--State’s population growth expected to outstrip water conservation in coming years (Sacramento Bee)
California water agencies are on track to satisfy a state mandate to reduce water consumption 20 percent by 2020. But according to their own projections, that savings won’t be enough to keep up with population growth just a decade later. A 2009 state law requires urban water agencies to reduce per-capita water consumption 20 percent by 2020, compared with use at the start of the century.