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Utah water officials brief council on Colorado River funding, post-2026 operational negotiations
Summary
A state representative outlined federal funding rounds for Colorado River conservation and the ongoing federal environmental review to set post-2026 operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, telling the Southeastern Utah Watershed Council that basin-state agreement remains unresolved.
Candice, a Colorado River Authority of Utah board member, briefed the Southeastern Utah Watershed Council on major federal funding opportunities and the process to set operations for the Colorado River after 2026.
The report summarized three funding tracks from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: the System Conservation Pilot Program (SCPP), a “Bucket 2” round for environmental and water projects (B2E and B2E2), and an anticipated basinwide salinity-control Notice of Funding Opportunity expected in May or June. Candice said the first B2E application round drew 23 submissions requesting roughly $450 million, and that B2E2 closed Jan. 10 and will be ranked along with the first round. She said she did not expect award announcements immediately and predicted results are more likely next month.
She also described a separate Colorado River Authority of Utah demand-management pilot that would test seasonal or split-season leases and other consumptive-use reductions tied to water-rights changes; she said the authority plans to select about three pilot projects to inform state policy if the approach proves viable.
Candice described the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s work on an environmental impact statement (EIS) and alternatives for post-2026 operations of Lakes Powell and Mead. She said the 1922 Colorado River Compact itself is not being renegotiated but that interim operational guidelines adopted in 2007 are being reconsidered. Candice said the seven basin states have not yet agreed on a single basin-wide alternative and that both upper-basin and lower-basin state coalitions have submitted differing alternatives to the bureau.
On the core dispute, Candice said the lower-basin states have committed to a 1.5 million acre-foot reduction to account largely for reservoir evaporation and transit losses, but that many analysts say deeper reductions will be needed to stabilize the system. She said questions remain about how additional cuts would be distributed between lower- and upper-basin states and that Utah’s commissioner is actively representing the state in negotiations.
The briefing included a short water-supply update: mid-December system storage across upper-basin reservoirs was roughly 46% of live capacity, with Lake Powell near 38% and statewide snow-water-equivalent near average, though soil moisture remained low.
Why it matters: federal awards and the bureau’s EIS will affect available financing for conservation projects in southeastern Utah and could reshape operational rules that determine water curtailments and shortages across the Colorado River basin.
The watershed council asked questions about evaporation estimates, the modeling work by the state engineer’s office to prepare for potential curtailment schedules and whether demand-management pilots would be tied to water-rights changes. Candice said state leaders and the Upper Colorado River Commission are working on curtailment modeling but that specifics about legislative funding or timing were not clear at the time of the briefing.
The council did not take a formal vote on policy during the presentation. Candice said she would circulate slides and follow-up materials to the council.
