Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Exposed to the beating sun and hot dry air, more than 10% of the water carried by the Colorado River evaporates, leaks or spills as the 1,450-mile (2,334-kilometer) powerhouse of the West flows through the region's dams, reservoirs and open-air canals.
For decades, key stewards of the river have ignored the massive water loss, instead allocating Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico their share of the river without subtracting what's evaporated.
But the 10% can no longer be ignored, hydrologists, state officials and other western water experts say.
The West's multi-decade drought has sent water levels in key reservoirs along the river to unprecedented lows. Officials from Nevada and Arizona say that they, together with California, now need to account for how much water is actually in the river.
The challenge is in finding a method that California also agrees to.
"It's very hard to get consensus," said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. She thinks it's unlikely that states will reach an agreement on their own, without federal intervention.
Unlike Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico, the upriver or Upper Basin states -- Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming -- already take into account evaporation losses.
Now with a looming federal deadline for Colorado River basin states to say how they'll use at least 15% less water from the river, there's renewed urgency for Arizona, California and Nevada to factor in what's lost to evaporation.
One proposal comes from Nevada: States at the end of the river would see their Colorado River portion shrink based on the distance it travels to reach users. The farther south the river travels, the more water is lost as temperatures rise and water is exposed to the elements for longer.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimates that roughly 1.5 million acre-feet of water are lost to evaporation, transportation and inefficiencies each year in Arizona, Nevada and California. That's 50% more than Utah uses in a whole year.
Nevada and Arizona could be on board with this plan.
Nevada stands to lose the least under this plan since Lake Mead -- the man-made reservoir from which Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico draw water -- sits in its backyard.
Tom Buschatzke, general manager of Arizona's Department of Water Resources, called Nevada's proposal fair.
"Calculating the losses as Nevada has proposed is probably the most equitable and matches the real, physical world," Buschatzke said. "The further you are, the more the losses are."
But crucially, California disagrees. Officials there have said Nevada's plan would likely run afoul of western water law. California has rights to the largest share of Colorado River water. Just as important, in times of shortage, water cuts come later than for other users, based on the so-called Law of the River, a series of overlapping agreements, court decisions and contracts that determine how the river is shared. Its senior water rights mean it has been spared from cuts so far.
California water managers have said evaporation and system losses should be accounted for based on this existing system. In a December letter to federal officials, Christopher Harris, executive director of the Colorado River Board of California, said any other approach could "face considerable legal and technical challenges."
For Arizona, that could mean shouldering losses so significant that some experts say the drinking water supply for Phoenix could be threatened due to diminished deliveries to the the Central Arizona Project, the 336-mile (541-kilometre) aqueduct system that delivers Colorado River water to that metro area and Tucson.
Under Nevada's plan, California would pay a steep price. In addition to using more water from the river than any other state, its water travels some of the longest distances. California's Imperial Irrigation District, the single largest of all users of Colorado River water, would lose about 19% of its share. The region grows many of the nation's winter vegetables and alfalfa, and Imperial has said it disagrees with issuing water cuts according to evaporative losses at all.
Tina Shields, water manager for Imperial Irrigation District, said Arizona and Nevada -- whose water rights are more junior than California's -- were advocating for the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plan because it would benefit them to share the losses.
"When you have a junior, right, that's what you do," Shields said. "You try to share the problem with other users."
According to John Fleck, a researcher at the University of New Mexico's Water Resources Program, Lower Basin states have avoided recognizing these losses for so long in part because there was no need to in decades past. Water was plentiful and some states didn't take all the water to which they were legally entitled.
In many cases, the infrastructure needed to deliver water -- vast canals, dams and waterways -- did not exist.
"The problem goes back to when ... no one needed to care about this issue," Fleck said."
The difficult politics involved have also made the issue somewhat untouchable, Fleck said.
"No one was willing to take it on," Fleck said. "It all comes down to the same thing: you have to take less water out of the system."
------
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.