THE COLORADO RIVER STORAGE PROJECT
IN THE 21ST CENTURY
by Randall Peterson, Manager
Adaptive Management and Environmental Resources Division
(also Program Manager, Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program)
Upper Colorado Region, Bureau of Reclamation
It seems such a simple question: Why have dams on the Colorado River? They
are viewed by some as life-givers, and by others as intruders. Some perceive that
we can't live without them; others perceive that we have somehow outgrown them, their
necessity faded away. The past debated their existence. The present debates their
operation, dividing the surplus; traditional water and power benefits, and instream
flows. Like most societal issues, there can be no segregation of humans, their values,
and their surroundings. As the West continues to press the boundaries of population
growth, the future will debate our use of limited resources, particularly water.
We will have to address the hard questions of why, how, and what's next.
Why?
There can be no getting around it, we live in a desert. It took early settlers
just one year to realize that this wasn't Ohio. Streams dried to a trickle. It
would take some type of water storage to supply human needs during the parched summers.
Early attempts were humorous; buckets, vats and tubs were scripted into service.
For a settlement of just a few, small efforts might have worked. But for our current
population, we speak in a language of water demands that the early settlers could
never have understood. And the demands are still growing.
In the Colorado, Congress provided the Boulder Canyon Project and the Colorado River
Storage Project (CRSP) as water resources to satisfy these life demands, about 30
million acre-feet of storage in both the Upper and Lower Basins. For the Lower Basin,
the purpose was storage delivered directly to the thirsty states of Arizona, Nevada
and California.
But upstream the purpose seems less clear. In truth, CRSP was a giant exchange agreement.
Compact and potential treaty requirements would be delivered from the lower end
of the Upper Basin, while depletions were allowed to develop upstream. Absent the
storage to fulfill our Lower Basin commitments, upstream users would be forced to
abandon, as the Anasazi, their water use during cyclic periods of drought. With
CRSP, those threats were subdued. The Colorado is a system of extremes, with annual
flows varying historically by a factor of five. Reservoirs smooth the extremes and
society benefited from this certainty.
So the answer to "Why?" is simple: CRSP exists because we have chosen to live in
this part of the West. Absent our existence in this basin, there would be no need
for reservoir storage. We could point to others and their excessive water demands,
but in truth the answer to "Why?" will be found in the mirror.
How?
Not only was CRSP designed to provide water; it also was a power generation project.
Revenues from the sale of power not only were to repay the construction costs of
the project (with interest), but also provided financial assistance for the development
of irrigation projects in the basin. The irrigation subsidies designed to support
farmers and keep food prices competitive came not from the federal government, but
from the basin's power users. Initially, the projected power rates to accomplish
all this were higher than the open market, and non-profit public power municipalities
took some risk in signing contracts for CRSP power. In recent years this situation
has reversed, and public power customers now enjoy CRSP rates lower than the open
market.
The development and financing scheme developed during the 1950s has worked flawlessly.
Much of the original construction cost has been repaid, and numerous water development
projects are providing upstream water supplies. What wasn't completely foreseen
was the change in society's expectations or the resource implications of constructing
CRSP. River restoration and endangered species are now part of the demands that
are placed on the reservoir system, necessitated by human demands on the water resources
of the West.
What's Next?
The regulating nature of reservoirs reduced sediment load, spring peak flows
and river temperatures, while increasing base flows during the summer, fall and winter
months. The natural functioning of watersheds and river systems has been altered,
with declining native species the result.
It seems fair to ask the value of these natural resources; indeed, this question
often frames the debate over the Endangered Species Act. What is sometimes lost
in the debate is the recognition that there is something about the Intermountain
West that either drew us away or keeps us from either coastal metropolis. We choose
to live here. There is a premium that we place on the quality of life in the Colorado
Basin. That premium is the currency that bridges human demands and human surroundings.
It's no surprise that there is a multitude of beliefs and positions on this issue,
but perhaps it will be a surprise how we address these differences of opinion in
the future. One emerging technique that may assist in this discussion is adaptive
management. Adaptive management can be viewed as an admission of incomplete knowledge,
which leads us to experiment to find solutions to current challenges. This incompleteness
results from the extraordinary complexity of both ecosystems and our relationship
to them. When CRSP is viewed through this filter, the debates over operational issues
can change from polarization to solution-finding. It is inaccurate to assume that
solutions only exist which result in winners and losers. Clearly we stand at a point
in time when the possible universe of solutions has been only partially explored.
Future exploration depends on commitments to scientific rigor, respect for all needs,
and a willingness to try. Litigation seems a failure of all three. The greatest
creativity we can muster will be required, nurtured by trust. CRSP and its original
purposes will continue to endure, but it will adapt as water use pressures continue
to increase. That adaptation will bear the same marks of ingenuity as the early
settlers, who not surprisingly were drawn here by the quality of life. Surely, that
deserves our best efforts.