“Fire season's [now] year round,” according to the incident commander for the nearly 200-acre grass fire that arose in southern Boulder, Colorado in late March 2022. Dubbed the “NCAR fire” after its location near the National Center for Atmospheric Research, this blaze thankfully proved much less destructive than the Marshall fire that struck December 30, 2021, between Boulder and Denver, destroying over 1,000 homes.

The Colorado River is over-appropriated. The demands that users place on the river far exceed its natural flow. This is primarily because of the Colorado River Compact of 1922, which determined how much water each of the seven basin states and Mexico will receive from the river annually and was based on data that showed uncharacteristically high water levels.

When asked about Colorado River rights, most would think of the allocations among the Colorado River Compact, an agreement that divides Colorado River water between seven arid states and Mexico; however, a 2017 first in nation lawsuit aimed to establish individual rights on behalf of the Colorado River.

After the other basin states made their concerns clear over the Lake Powell Pipeline, the Utah State Legislature stepped in to try to ensure water delivery to St. George. Recently passed legislation created the Colorado River Authority of Utah, a group charged with a mission to ‘protect, conserve, use, and develop Utah’s waters of the Colorado River System.” Although it is not uncommon for states to have such a commission, Utah is getting attention for the creation of its commission because of its timing, legislative rhetoric, and intent.