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A crisis is looming in the Colorado River Basin. The Bureau of Reclamation projects that as soon as 2022 Lake Powell could reach its lowest level ever. The snowpack for the 4 Upper Basin states — Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico — is 67 percent of average @Report4America 1/
And as @judyfutah writes in today's paper, a lack of a monsoon in 2020 created extremely dry soil conditions that will reduce runoff this spring even if more snow falls. 2/ https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31012021/climate-change-west-droughts-wildfire/
Drought contingency plans have been initiated in an attempt to keep Powell from reaching "dead pool." But water managers and environmentalists fear an add'l factor could disrupt 1.5 centuries of precedent: hedge funds moving into to exploit the crisis. 3/ https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/02/07/exclusive-hedge-funds-eye/
A New York-based hedge fund called Water Asset Management has spent over $300M on farmland in the basin, including $16M on land with with senior water rights along the UT-CO border, as has been reported by @LukeRunyon, @heather_sackett and others. 4/
It's also been reported that investors are pushing to create private "accounts" in Powell where water could be stored and sold at a mark-up during droughts. A water manager told me that would amount to partially privatizing the federally owned reservoir and enable speculation. 5/
"I don’t see room for private speculation on Colorado River water — or water anywhere, for that matter," Gene Shawcroft, Utah's representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission, told me, calling the trend "disturbing." 6/ https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/02/07/exclusive-hedge-funds-eye/
"Giving management authority to a hedge fund in New York or San Francisco is not going to make this region...more sustainable,” said Matt Rice of @americanrivers, adding it could impact farms, communities, the environment and collaborative decision making in the basin. 7/
Hedge funds argue otherwise--that opening water markets would better distribute a scarce resource during droughts--while also potentially creating what a WAM co-founder called a "trillion-dollar market opportunity" in the U.S. 8/ https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/02/07/exclusive-hedge-funds-eye/
Meanwhile, as @brianmaffly reported last week, UT is pushing new legislation that could divert even more water from the river. “This bill helps get us get what’s ours,” said Rep. Mike Kohler, R-Midway. 9/ https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/02/05/proposed-river-authority/
“There’s always been this perception that there is more water to be had and we’re going to go get it from the CO River," said Eric Kuhn, who contributed to a recent white paper with Utah State Univ. "The water's just not there."
Check out the full story: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/02/07/exclusive-hedge-funds-eye/
Check out the full story: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/02/07/exclusive-hedge-funds-eye/
