An executive order issued early in the Trump administration has been suspended after at least $4 billion was taken to protect the flow of the Colorado River. Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act was provided to protect water supply flows in the large agricultural economy with around 40 million people. Colora River users are worried about the future of water supply declines as their money is on hold.
The river is shrinking Climate change. Two largest reservoirs, created by the Colorado River dam, have reached Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Record low levels In recent years, this has been in the Mega Dract for over 20 years. When the water level gets much lower, Generates hydroelectric power generation In a huge dam that hinders them or loses its capacity Passing through the water downstream.
With the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Biden will designation Colorado River program, $4 billion for funding farmers, Cityand Native American tribes Save money by leaving the Colorado River water in their reservoirs. Payment is compensation Lost income.
Much of the IRA money has already been delivered, but Bart Fisher, sitting on the board of directors of California’s Palo Verde Irrigation District, is worried about what will happen If that disappears.
“If there’s no funding,” he said, “There’s no conservation.”
Alex Hager / Kunk
Palo Verde farmers use the waters of the Colorado River to grow cattle feed and vegetables in the desert along the Arizona border. Fisher said they wanted to be Active participants When protecting rivers, however, if they grow less water and less crops, they stand to lose money.
“The district’s AG producers are not willing to sacrifice revenue from regular AG production,” he said.
In the current funding cycle, only landowners in Fisher’s irrigation districts have earned around $40 million in exchange for reducing water use. Who knows how much will be delivered in the next cycle that begins in August. Fisher said farmers are already thinking about budgets for the next growth period.
“At this point, it’s unsettling to think that it might come on August 1st. Everything about our plans needs to change suddenly,” he said.
When President Donald Trump signed his first executive order, “Unleashing American energy” It appears that, at least in the short term, did not directly affect the amount of water in the Colorado River.
Trump says he’s sending water to LA. I actually go to Mega Farm.
The order, signed on the first day of Trump’s appointment, aims to “unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources.”
However, the order states that “all agencies will immediately suspend payments for funds allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”
“These are not ‘awake-up’ environmental programs,” said Anne Castle, who played a federal water policy role in the Biden and Obama administrations. “These are essential to our continued ability to bypass water.”
Water users whose grants have been suspended say they are seeking more information from the federal government and are trying not to get in the way of their responses. The federal agency responsible for Western water did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.
Conservation programs, which send money to farmers in California, are key to boosting water supply in major reservoirs. That’s not a small feat as state leaders using Colorado River water are caught up in legal conflicts over how they share it in the future. They look like that There’s hardly any progress Let them meet behind closed doors ahead of the 2026 deadline.
“This allocated funds suddenly managed to undo years of very careful collaboration between states in the Colorado River Basin,” Castle said, “and threatened the sustainability of the entire system.”
Alex Hager / Kunk
In addition to these water conservation programs, the IRA has put hundreds of millions of dollars aside for projects aimed at keeping tributaries of the Colorado River clean and healthy. Maintenance Groupsmall nonprofits, Native American tribes and local governments have been allocated federal funding for a number of projects, including wildfire prevention and habitat restoration.
Sonja Chavez, general manager of the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, was hoping to make money from her group for the River Improvement Project in Western Colorado.
“If there’s no freezing solution or any additional guidance on what happens for people,” she said. “We may need to pause the entire program.”
Projects to restore and improve small groups and small sections of the river rely on their own money from the federal government.
Holyloff, a Western Colorado grant writer and former director of the Eagle River Basin Council, said: “We can’t really compete with these big dollars, and we cannot fund very few other entities other than the federal government at these levels.”
Since federal funding was suspended, a small group that has relied on rushing to plan emergency plans, some of their leaders say it’s difficult to fill the gap with money from donors and local governments.
Loff said the ongoing suspension on funding would cause a lot of economic distress for communities near the Colorado River, including those with economies that rely on water-based recreation. Produce It is grown in the waters of the Colorado River.
“Our economy will have an impact,” she said. “It’s just extensive. And I can’t really think about how anyone can avoid being affected.”
The story is part of an ongoing coverage of Western waters produced by Kunku in Colorado and supported by the Walton Family Foundation. KUNC is solely responsible for editorial reporting.
