Very timely, indeed. I was one of those commenters who made the Saudi Arabia claim on the Instagram version of the post. I feel unfortunate to have been misled regarding the scale of this export by some other "journalism" on this topic.
Certainly the fundamental and perhaps more salient concept here is the vast water welfare state we've built for CO basin alfalfa farmers; built to such an extent as to enable cheaply-grown American alfalfa for export, rather than incentivize any kind of agricultural curtailment. As you write, the issue is no doubt conflated by the attribution of water, though. It is a bit difficult to make a strong argument that "CO Basin water is being exported overseas" when it's not really possible to attribute the water use to the river itself.
Jonathan. My question/comment is a slight diversion from your post but still has to do with the export of Colorado river water… In this case to the eastern slope of Colorado and beyond.
While I’ve been working on my book about Colorado’s fountain Creek, I’ve struggled to find a way to think about all of the Colorado river water that ends up outside of the basin watering places like Colorado Springs, a front range city that gets over 80% of its water from the Colorado river basin. That water eventually makes its way via the fountain and the Arkansas all the way to Kansas and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico. An export of Pacific Ocean water to the Atlantic is one way to think about it.
Even with the very difficult past few years of drought in the Colorado basin, Colorado Springs has continued to import the water It needs through various legal mechanisms not to mention extraordinarily expensive infrastructure developments… Pipes, tunnels, pumps…
What I struggle to wrap my head around is what happens if/when the water within the Colorado basin shrinks to the point that Water export are curtailed. Or is that even a possibility? When does Colorado Springs paper rights turn into just that, pieces of paper only With no wet water to pull?
Perhaps my thinking is a bit dystopian, but I find it difficult to wrap my head around the idea of a city that will have 1 million residents in another decade or so pulling 80% of its water from a system that can no longer afford to export that water.
I just don’t know how to think about that contextually.
I think there are efforts being made to address this issue:
“We’re going to have to begin setting up frameworks at the state and national level to get this process going, to come to a conclusion about how you put together voluntary programs that have incentives, that do not destroy local communities,” Babbitt said.
For the next three years, federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are supporting the water-saving efforts. Babbitt said one key question will be where the federal government can find money for a long-term program aimed at scaling back agricultural water use.”
It is subsidizing farmers to retire fields, shift crops and rotate crops but it is ongoing. Sometimes efforts to stop water usage in the lower basin are stopped by environmentalists because a species like the pupfish has become dependent on that water.
Jonathan! Where is that Mystery Hole you photographed? How big is it? UFO base in our desert? Darn furriners! Flood 'em out sez I. Oops, forgot we're fresh outta water!
Very timely, indeed. I was one of those commenters who made the Saudi Arabia claim on the Instagram version of the post. I feel unfortunate to have been misled regarding the scale of this export by some other "journalism" on this topic.
Certainly the fundamental and perhaps more salient concept here is the vast water welfare state we've built for CO basin alfalfa farmers; built to such an extent as to enable cheaply-grown American alfalfa for export, rather than incentivize any kind of agricultural curtailment. As you write, the issue is no doubt conflated by the attribution of water, though. It is a bit difficult to make a strong argument that "CO Basin water is being exported overseas" when it's not really possible to attribute the water use to the river itself.
Portal to Ishmay...
Should have bought you the proverbial cuppa joe when I said hi in 81301 about 3 weeks ago
Jonathan. My question/comment is a slight diversion from your post but still has to do with the export of Colorado river water… In this case to the eastern slope of Colorado and beyond.
While I’ve been working on my book about Colorado’s fountain Creek, I’ve struggled to find a way to think about all of the Colorado river water that ends up outside of the basin watering places like Colorado Springs, a front range city that gets over 80% of its water from the Colorado river basin. That water eventually makes its way via the fountain and the Arkansas all the way to Kansas and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico. An export of Pacific Ocean water to the Atlantic is one way to think about it.
Even with the very difficult past few years of drought in the Colorado basin, Colorado Springs has continued to import the water It needs through various legal mechanisms not to mention extraordinarily expensive infrastructure developments… Pipes, tunnels, pumps…
What I struggle to wrap my head around is what happens if/when the water within the Colorado basin shrinks to the point that Water export are curtailed. Or is that even a possibility? When does Colorado Springs paper rights turn into just that, pieces of paper only With no wet water to pull?
Perhaps my thinking is a bit dystopian, but I find it difficult to wrap my head around the idea of a city that will have 1 million residents in another decade or so pulling 80% of its water from a system that can no longer afford to export that water.
I just don’t know how to think about that contextually.
"Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01291-0
The latest detailed study of Colorado River usage.
I think there are efforts being made to address this issue:
“We’re going to have to begin setting up frameworks at the state and national level to get this process going, to come to a conclusion about how you put together voluntary programs that have incentives, that do not destroy local communities,” Babbitt said.
For the next three years, federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are supporting the water-saving efforts. Babbitt said one key question will be where the federal government can find money for a long-term program aimed at scaling back agricultural water use.”
It is subsidizing farmers to retire fields, shift crops and rotate crops but it is ongoing. Sometimes efforts to stop water usage in the lower basin are stopped by environmentalists because a species like the pupfish has become dependent on that water.
Jonathan! Where is that Mystery Hole you photographed? How big is it? UFO base in our desert? Darn furriners! Flood 'em out sez I. Oops, forgot we're fresh outta water!