A Wyoming state senator and a Colorado water expert say Wyoming is getting stiffed on the Colorado River Compact. They say the 100-year-old compact has very little benefit to Wyoming.
Although the prolonged drought along the Colorado River may seem to be the troubles of other states, it has a big impact on Wyoming. Roughly 90% of the Colorado River’s water comes from snowpack in Wyoming and the other upper basin states.
Wyoming rancher and Family Farm Alliance President Patrick O’Toole told a U.S. Senate committee that agricultural producers are “under attack” because of proposed limits on water usage.
Water levels on the Colorado River are at their lowest point in 1,200 years and the water in the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Southwest Wyoming is being used to help replenish the parched river and Lake Powell downstream.
