Researchers still recommend a conservative approach to river management.

This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University.

A new study found that the Colorado River may experience a rebound after two decades of decreased flows due to drought and global warming.

“Importantly, we find climate change will likely increase precipitation in the Colorado headwaters,” Professor Martin Hoerling, the study’s lead author, wrote to The Salt Lake Tribune in an email. “This will compensate some if not most of the depleting effects of further warming.”

Recently published in the Journal of Climate, the study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science used data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Researchers analyzed precipitation, temperature and flows at Lees Ferry, a point 15 miles downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona. Lees Ferry serves as the dividing line between the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basin.

Winter snows melting off mountains in the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming and into the river each year produce about 85% of the river’s flow.

The study’s climate projections forecast that there is a 70% chance that climate change will lead to increased precipitation in the Upper Basin between 2026 and 2050. That precipitation increase could boost the river’s flows by 5% to 7%.

The Colorado River’s flows have decreased by 20% since the turn of the century.

But researchers caution that these forecasts aren’t a bailout for the beleaguered river. Climate change will lead to a higher variability in precipitation, meaning that “extremely high and low flows are more likely” on the Colorado River between 2026 and 2050, according to the study.

“When there is that much uncertainty involved in something, the smartest management approach is to be conservative,” said Brian Richter, who serves as the president of Sustainable Waters, an organization focused on water education.

Richter, who was not involved in the University of Coloraro study, recently authored a different study about where the Colorado River water goes from its headwaters to its dry delta in Mexico.

“That there might be better precipitation is good to know,” he said, “but it’s not cause to abandon the reality that we need to aggressively reduce our level of consumption.”

Water managers across the West are currently working to negotiate management of the Colorado River and its reservoirs after 2026, when current operational guidelines from 2007 expire. The Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that oversees water projects across the country, aims to complete a draft environmental impact statement for post-2026 operations by the end of this year.

Hoerling, too, pointed to the need for more responsible river use as water managers hash out future river guidelines: “The crisis, though triggered at this time by nature, exposed a structural problem of how water is used, especially in the Lower basin of the Colorado River.”

Arizona, California and Nevada — the Lower Colorado River Basin states, which draw their water from reservoirs — have committed to water cuts. The Upper Basin states argue that they shouldn’t have to cut their water use because they experience natural water cuts due to the river’s decreasing flows and evaporative losses.

Hoerling wrote that, given a warming planet and highly variable river conditions responsible management necessitates more research on how low the Colorado River’s flows could be in the future.

DENVER, Colo. (KKTV) – Lawmakers left some of the most important decisions for the final days and hours.

“It has been painstakingly negotiated and worked on over months and months and months,” District 45 Representative Lisa Frizell said.

Before the Colorado legislature adjourned… Lawmakers gave final approval on Senate Bill 233. A bill that supporters say will save Coloradans over one billion dollars on property taxes.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, would give many homeowners a larger exemption and an average of 300 to 400 dollars per year. Frizell says this bill is geared toward avoiding future spikes in your property taxes like many people saw just months ago.

“I know that citizens have felt the pain not just when they saw their property value notice value last May not just when they open their property tax bill,” Frizell said.

How you receive your TABOR refund in years when Colorado has a surplus will also change. The legislature sent a major plan to lower *income tax rates next year by .15% to the governor.

In a statement, Governor Polis said this:

“No one should be priced out of their home because they can’t afford their property tax bill and this bipartisan effort will help support current and future homeowners, as well as the success of Colorado small businesses…. “I also look forward to sales tax reductions in future years under the new TABOR formula to prevent overtaxation.”

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (SCBFD) – Applications are open through May 31 for Accelerate COS, a Survive & Thrive small business loan program offered by Exponential Impact and the city of Colorado Springs.

Click here to subscribe to SCBFD.

Businesses with fewer than 50 employees and headquartered in El Paso County are eligible.

Exponential Impact supports founders and startups by equipping them with resources and expertise, then strengthening their connections to create rich environments of innovation and collaboration.

Accepted businesses will secure a three-year loan of up to $50,000, with interest of 2% the first year, 3% the second year and 4% in year three, or 0% interest if paid in full during the first year. They will also receive personalized mentorship and education throughout the eight-week Survive & Thrive program.

According to an April 29 release, this program is ideal for businesses seeking growth opportunities, planning to hire and train employees, redefining their business model or experiencing barriers in accessing traditional financing.

Exponential Impact is sponsoring weekly information sessions during the application period that will provide a comprehensive overview of the program and the application process. More information: exponentialimpact.com/accelerate-cos.

This news comes to you from the Southern Colorado Business Forum & Digest, a Business & Economic Development publication of Colorado Media Group. Send your news to editor@coloradomediagroup.com.

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