Released ahead of the annual Colorado River Water Users Association Conference in Las Vegas, ‘Accelerating Investment in Resilience’ identifies opportunities and demands bold action.
Today, a coalition of conservation and sportsmen’s groups across the Colorado River Basin released ‘Accelerating Investment In Resilience for the Colorado River Basin,’ which advocates for prioritizing funding for climate resilience strategies as a means of addressing long-term drought conditions, regional water security challenges, and the health of rivers, watersheds, and ecosystems. The report was developed with the support of American Rivers, Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and Western Resource Advocates, and arrives ahead of the annual Colorado River Water Users Association (CRWUA) Conference in Las Vegas.
Describing resilience-building as an “urgent need” in the face of the Basin’s rapidly changing climate conditions, the paper identifies projects already underway throughout the West that can serve as models and outlines how consistent and coordinated investments are needed to protect the Colorado River and the more than 35 million people who rely on it. Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation invested $51 million in grants for projects across 11 states as part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda. Nine of the funded projects are located in the Colorado River Basin and will collectively receive more than $13 million for water conservation, management, and restoration efforts, which all will improve the resilience of the Colorado River Basin.
Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has enabled the Colorado River community to develop and implement innovative and ambitious resilience solutions for how to respond to the challenging conditions facing the Colorado River and the communities that rely on it. In this latest report, Basin groups say it is essential that additional funding continues to support resilience projects to keep this momentum going and help address the challenges facing the Basin.
“The Colorado River is being pushed to its breaking point, but as this report demonstrates, there are numerous deployable and cost-effective resilience-building opportunities ready for federal investment across the Basin,” said Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program Director with the National Audubon Society. “The Colorado River Basin needs significant, coordinated, and ongoing federal funding to confront the urgent threats facing the communities, birds, and ecosystems that depend on the river. By proactively implementing durable solutions, from dust-suppressing cover crops to reconnection of floodplains, we can reduce risk to all sectors across the Basin while maintaining the vitality of the Colorado River system for current and future generations.”
“Addressing the long-term threat of declining water supplies in the West calls for more than just solving the water allocation math problem–we must also proactively pursue durable resilience strategies and incorporate environmental stewardship and mitigation measures into our everyday actions,” said Sara Porterfield, Western Water Policy Advisor with Trout Unlimited. “It is imperative that we do more than keep the Colorado River’s ecosystem on life support–we must address the growing existential threats facing the system and imperiling communities across the Basin.”
As discussions continue in earnest over future water usage guidelines beyond 2026, the report underscores how environmental concerns are critical to any effort that aims to meaningfully address the crisis, arguing that maintaining the integrity of natural systems is essential to ensuring the Colorado River’s long-term viability. The report also points to projects already underway across the Basin as encouraging examples, which have been made possible with the support of federal funds allocated through the BIL and the IRA.
“While the situation is dire, we are luckily not starting from scratch: we have found ways to work together over the last two decades on solutions to manage a changing river,” said Alex Funk, Director of Water Resources and Senior Counsel with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We must focus on taking our efforts to the next level to adopt equitable and proactive approaches to improve the Colorado River’s degraded natural systems and protect the people, fish, and wildlife that depend on it.”
“Recent federal funding provides an important down payment to help address the Basin’s crisis, but this funding is time limited and, to date, has focused primarily on reducing demand on a temporary basis versus building long-term resilience,” said Fay Hartman, Southwest Conservation Director with American Rivers. “Moving forward, we must prioritize restoring forests, headwater streams, and water dependent habitats. We have to adapt agriculture to a hotter and drier future by improving practices, updating infrastructure, and identifying opportunities for water-saving crops. And this investment must come from all sectors–urban, industrial and agricultural water users.”
Media contact: Sean Keady, [email protected]
