The Department of the Interior announced this week the next steps they plan to take concerning the stability of the Colorado River Basin. The draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement was released in which the purpose stated is to modify guidelines for operation of Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam to address historic drought, historically low reservoirs, and low runoff conditions in the Colorado River Basin. The draft offers three options moving forward: The No Action Alternative; Alternative 1 which would reduce releases from Glen Canyon Dam and base distribution on priority; and Alternative 2 which models operational changes similar to Alternative 1 but would make distributions in the same percentage across all Lower Basin water users. The draft SEIS will be published in the Federal Register on April 14th, starting the 45-day public comment period. There will be Zoom webinars on May 4th, 8th, 10th, and 16th. Comments on the SEIS should be submitted by May 30th.
