Yampa and White Rivers Not Immune to Historic Lows Among Colorado Rivers
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin
By Darah Fuller
Severe droughts and unprecedented decreases in average water flow have prompted Colorado officials to revaluate water consumption for the White and Yampa rivers. Both rivers flow into the already jeopardized Colorado River, which is experiencing historic low flow levels. Traditionally, the White and Yampa rivers could be relied on to supply comfortable quantities of water compared to other waterways, but that has changed over the last two decades. The 21st century has seen a 6% decrease in the Yampa’s average flow from its 20th century average. The White River has been even harder hit, with its average flow falling 19% from its 20th century average.
Colorado’s Division of Water Resources has announced an effort to develop rules for measuring water usage and implement water tracking devices to record that data. Division officials are hosting stakeholder meetings to discuss establishing these rules and hope to complete the process by the end of the year. These meetings allow water rights holders to work directly with the Division of Water Resources to establish a system for installing water flow measurement devices. As more data is collected, the state will be able to better allocate water to those with water rights. Additionally, it will provide critical water flow data if Colorado must revisit allocations with upper and lower-basin states which are not receiving enough water from the already over allocated Colorado river. This data is needed to represent Colorado’s water interests competently as “every drop counts when it comes to water.”
Senior water rights holders along the Yampa are making more frequent requests for state engineers to shut off supply for junior rights holders for the senior water rights holders to receive their water allocation. This is an integral indication of water scarcity among rights holders. The first ever request of this nature on the Yampa occurred in 2018, with additional requests in 2020 and 2021. The most recent calls only ended after Colorado River conservation officials released water from the Elkhead Reservoir. Although this temporarily resolved the calls, they have very concerning implications for those downstream.
The water from the Yampa and White rivers eventually makes its way into Lake Powell via the Colorado River, comprising approximately a fifth of the reservoir’s water supply annually. Lake Powell is currently at its all time lowest water level, and Lake Mead is filled only to 35% capacity. Around 35 million people rely on Lake Powell for water, which supports millions of acres of agricultural land and billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity. The concern is not limited to increasing water users but consumptive use as well. Consumptive water use consists of the portion of water withdrawn for a specific use that evaporates, transpires, is incorporated into agricultural endeavors, or is otherwise removed from available supplies without returning to a water resource system. As global temperatures rise due to climate change, crops require more water to sustain them.
To combat rapidly diminishing flow levels, the Division of Water Resources is doubling down on measures for water accounting. This process pertaining to the Yampa and White rivers is not unique to Colorado or the west. It is part of a nationwide trend to better track water usage as droughts increase in frequency and duration. As scarcity increases, people want to know what happened to their water. It is impossible to adequately answer these inquiries without proper accounting for water. As of April, only 54% of structures in Craig and Steamboat Springs had devices to measure water usage. In contrast, about 94% of the structures in the Roaring Fork and Crystal river basins have measuring devices.
In 2019, Erin Light, water division engineer for the Craig and Steamboat region, ordered hundreds of users in the Yampa basin to install measuring devices. In March 2020, this was expanded to include others along the White and Green rivers. Water division engineers are working with stakeholders in meetings to develop rules regarding which devices should be used and how they should measure water. Water division engineers hope to complete the rulemaking process by the end of the year. Installation of measuring devices is expensive, and the burden of that cost falls exclusively on water rights holders. One rancher outside of Meeker, Howard Cooper, reports spending about $25,000 to install headgates and flumes at the points where he diverts water. Despite the high cost, Cooper reports that more accurate accounting affords him peace of mind.