Torres Martinez Tribe Salton Sea Oral Testimony

Salton Sea Authority | September 24th, 2020

 Chairman and Ranking Member, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to testify today. I am the Tribal Council Chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla (Tribe) an

 Chairman and Ranking Member, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to testify today. I am the Tribal Council Chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla (Tribe) and a director on the Salton Sea Authority (SSA). I offer this testimony on behalf of both the Tribe and SSA.  I want to begin by thanking Congressman Ruiz (D-Calif.) and Congressman Vargas (D-Calif.) for their hard work to place this issue squarely before the Committee today. The Tribe and SSA view this hearing as a very important beginning of a more robust Congressional effort to drive federal action at the Salton Sea. 

Tribal Water Study: An Overview

Water and Tribes Initiative | October 28th, 2019

The purpose of this policy brief is to provide an overview of the Colorado River Basin Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study (Study), a unique review of the water rig

The purpose of this policy brief is to provide an overview of the Colorado River Basin Ten Tribes Partnership Tribal Water Study (Study), a unique review of the water rights, water uses, and future plans of the member tribes of the Colorado River Basin Tribes Partnership (Ten Tribes Partnership). The information in this policy brief is taken directly from the Study. In the foreword to the Study, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Commissioner Brenda Burman states that Reclamation and the Ten Tribes Partnership collaborated to document current water use and potential future water development to better facilitate planning and decision-making throughout the Colorado River Basin (Basin). The Study strengthens a Department of the Interior commitment to address water issues facing tribes and recognizes that the Colorado River is an essential foundation for the physical, economic, and cultural sustenance of tribes in the Basin. The Study also explores ways to provide a wide range of benefits to both Partnership Tribes and other water users. The mutual trust and understanding forged during the Study will prove to be critical as the Basin collaboratively addresses the significant challenges ahead. The Ten Tribes Partnership, in its foreword, stated that in addition to producing technical information, the Tribes had other goals. First, they wanted to better understand how, at present, the Study’s water use scenarios fit into the overall scheme of Colorado River Basin management. Second, they wanted to know how future development of tribal water resources will affect other water users who are now using water to which a tribe may hold legal title, but which the title-holding tribe has not yet developed for its own use. Finally, they wanted to assess--to the extent present information allows -- the role future development of tribal water rights will have on Basin operations. The Ten Tribes Partnership hopes the Study resolves some uncertainty about how tribes perceive the future for their water uses, and establishes a baseline of information for discussions and development of relationships among tribes, states, federal government, water managers, and water users throughout the Basin.

U.S.-Mexican Water Sharing: Background and Recent Developments

Congressional Research Service (CRS) | March 2nd, 2017

The United States and Mexico share the waters of the Colorado River and Rio Grande pursuant to binational agreements. Increasing water demands and reduced supplies derivi

The United States and Mexico share the waters of the Colorado River and Rio Grande pursuant to binational agreements. Increasing water demands and reduced supplies deriving from drought and air temperatures increase the challenges and significance of reliable water sharing. The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) is charged with addressing issues that arise during application of binational water treaties. The IBWC is a binational entity with a U.S. Section that operates under foreign policy guidance from the U.S. Department of State. Under the binational 1944 Water Treaty, disputes and new developments can be resolved through agreed-upon interpretations of the treaty, called minutes. Mexican-U.S. relations generally grew closer during the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations. Water sharing was addressed through IBWC technical meetings and bilateral talks between government officials; these meetings and talks were the primary forum for addressing treaty compliance and frustrations of water users in Texas with Mexico’s water delivery regime. Treaty minutes were used to enhance bilateral cooperation and provide flexibility in how treaty compliance was accomplished. It remains uncertain what principles will guide and what mechanisms will be used during the Trump Administration to address water conflicts and what role enhanced cooperation (e.g., measures similar to recent binational efforts in the Colorado River basin) may play in U.S.-Mexican water sharing.

Understanding Uncertainties in Future Colorado River Streamflow

American Meteorological Society (AMS) | January 1st, 2014

The Colorado River is the primary water source for more than 30 million people in the United States and Mexico. Recent studies that project streamf low changes in the Col

The Colorado River is the primary water source for more than 30 million people in the United States and Mexico. Recent studies that project streamf low changes in the Colorado River all project annual declines, but the magnitude of the projected decreases range from less than 10% to 45% by the mid-twenty-first century. To understand these differences, we address the questions the management community has raised: Why is there such a wide range of projections of impacts of future climate change on Colorado River streamflow, and how should this uncertainty be interpreted? We identify four major sources of disparities among studies that arise from both methodological and model differences. In order of importance, these are differences in 1) the global climate models (GCMs) and emission scenarios used; 2) the ability of land surface and atmospheric models to simulate properly the high-elevation runoff source areas; 3) the sensitivities of land surface hydrology models to precipitation and temperature changes; and 4) the methods used to statistically downscale GCM scenarios. In accounting for these differences, there is substantial evidence across studies that future Colorado River streamflow will be reduced under the current trajectories of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions because of a combination of strong temperature-induced runoff curtailment and reduced annual precipitation. Reconstructions of preinstrumental streamflows provide additional insights; the greatest risk to Colorado River streamf lows is a multidecadal drought, like that observed in paleoreconstructions, exacerbated by a steady reduction in flows due to climate change. This could result in decades of sustained streamflows much lower than have been observed in the ~100 years of instrumental record.

Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, 1948

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | October 11th, 1948

Upper Division States Alternative for Post-2026 Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead

Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) | March 5th, 2024

Utah's Land, Water and Air 2022 Report to the Governor

Utah State University | November 30th, 2022

Utah's Land, Water and Air 2023 Report to the Governor and Legislature

Utah State University | October 19th, 2023

This report serves as a 2023 snapshot of key issues and concerns with Utah’s shared resources. It highlights gathered data that is available to provide context to thes

This report serves as a 2023 snapshot of key issues and concerns with Utah’s shared resources. It highlights gathered data that is available to provide context to these issues, as well as identifies areas where more study is needed. Addressing these challenges will enable Utah policymakers to make informed decisions for the future. Under the authorship of 43 researchers and experts and the general guidance of 49 advisory committee members, the report outlines 32 issues and trends to pay attention to in the coming months and years.

Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande: Treaty Between the United States of America and Mexico

U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) | November 14th, 1945

Water from the Colorado River

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | July 1st, 1931

It is the purpose of this booklet to outline the Boulder Canyon Dam project on the Colorado River and the Metropolitan Aqueduct. Furthermore, it seems pertinent to indica

It is the purpose of this booklet to outline the Boulder Canyon Dam project on the Colorado River and the Metropolitan Aqueduct. Furthermore, it seems pertinent to indicate the extent of the population, industrial and agricultural resources of the Metropolitan area, which stand behind and urgently require Colorado River development.