DENVER – A new poll finds Coloradans are worried about how the state will solve its water supply issues – and that they're willing to make sacrifices to do it.

More than three-quarters of Coloradans say conservation is the right approach with Colorado's water – and more than half say building a pipeline to ship Colorado River water to the Front Range isn't the right solution.

Lori Weigel helped conduct the poll for Public Opinion Strategies. She says the concern about Colorado's water supply cuts across geographic and political lines, and for Coloradans it's as important as the economy.

"The fact that concern about water supplies is on par with concern about jobs in the state right now is very significant," Weigel says.

Eighty-seven percent of Coloradans say they're willing to cut back their water use by at least 20 percent in order to preserve the state's water supply – but only a quarter are actually doing so.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board is set to meet Tuesday to consider a proposal from the Flaming Gorge Task Force about funding a new body that would determine how best to build pipelines to export water from Western Slope rivers.

The poll was commissioned by the group Protect the Flows. Director Molly Mugglestone agrees with Governor John Hickenlooper that any conversation about water needs to begin with conservation.

"That's what we're really trying to focus on the most that we can in terms of conservation before we start looking at pipelines,” Mugglestone says. “Why do we need to go to pipelines as the first avenue?"

Weigel has conducted similar polls in other states and was surprised by the bi-partisan support for conservation.

"Coloradans' connection to rivers and how they think about their rivers is different than a lot of other places,” she says. “They connect it to quality of life."

Weigel adds that the poll shows Coloradans also connect the state's rivers to economic benefits, specifically in tourism and recreation.




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Nevada is set to lose 8% of its Colorado River water allotment next year because of perilously low water levels at Lakes Mead and Powell caused by a 23-year-long drought.

It could be worse: Arizona will have to give up a whopping 21%, and the country of Mexico, 7%.

The states along the upper and lower basin were supposed to come up with voluntary reductions by Monday, but failed.

Tanya Trujillo, assistant secretary for water and science with the Department of the Interior, said states have a little more time, but if they cannot work it out soon, the feds may have to impose their own solutions.

"We will be asking our technical teams to develop a suite of options for us to be considering in the event that we need to take action to protect the system," Trujillo explained. "Because we are truly facing unprecedented conditions in this basin."

The Southern Nevada Water District issued a statement saying the agency should be able to absorb the cuts, and Nevada is "in a relatively enviable position" because conservation measures taken over the last 20 years have cut water usage by 26%. However, they still urged residents and businesses to conserve, stick to the seasonal watering rules, and eliminate decorative turf.

Tommy Beaudreau, deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, said the infrastructure law and the new Inflation Reduction Act are bringing big dollars to the fight to stabilize the water crisis in the western U.S.

"We're bringing infrastructure investments to help with water delivery, improvements to the system to support efficiency, and support for users, including irrigators," Beaudreau outlined. "Everybody has to tighten their belts in this situation."

Next Tuesday, lawmakers and policy experts from the governor's office and the Southern Nevada Water Authority will gather at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas to discuss federal and state efforts to combat the megadrought.

Twenty-one counties in New York are under a drought watch, which could become the norm as climate change heats up the planet.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, a drought watch is the least severe on the drought monitoring scale. For now, public water suppliers start conserving water and urge people to reduce their water use.

The National Integrated Drought Information System classifies this as a moderate drought. Sylvia Reeves, the system's Northeast regional drought information coordinator, said these "pop-up droughts" have been typical in the last two years, in the entire Northeast.

"We've seen more frequent drought events that have lasted anywhere from six months to a little over a year," she said. "And, those events typically have come on in what we call a 'flashy' form - rapid onset of drought conditions and rapid intensification."

Reeves added that if several different indicators of groundwater, surface water and wells don't change, drought conditions could be upgraded to "severe." That's what New York faced in summer and mid-fall 2020. These conditions aren't generally bad enough to cause wildfires, but grass and brush fires could be forces to contend with.

During droughts, it isn't just about needing water for small things such as brushing your teeth or doing laundry. It's about making sure vital crops are irrigated thoroughly and having a decent supply of groundwater.

As weather gets more extreme, droughts could be more prolonged, said Alison Branco, director of climate adaptation for The Nature Conservancy of Long Island.

"What we're going to see is, not a huge change in the overall amount of rain we receive - a little increase, but not a ton," she said. "But it's going to come in less frequent, more severe bursts; like big heavy storms and not so much like that slow, steady rain."

She added that there could be periods of drought between rain events, but groundwater sources won't be able to replenish as quickly. Branco, a Long Island resident, said she feels the infrastructure to pump groundwater isn't equipped to meet the high demands a drought would create. However, she said, New York is not at risk of the kinds of lengthy droughts seen in California and other Western states.

If Iowa wants to ensure its Nutrient Reduction Strategy is working to curb farm runoff, a new report from an environmental group says it needs to do a better job of monitoring water quality around the state.

The Iowa Environmental Council noted that since 2013, Iowa has committed nearly $100 million toward water-quality projects. That includes keeping an eye on the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering waterways from sources such as agriculture. Despite the investments, said Alicia Vasto, associate director of the council's water program, agencies involved have yet to implement an approach to see if the efforts actually are improving the water.

"We believe that if there was monitoring, if there was more information available, that it would demonstrate current efforts are not where they need to be and we need to adjust the strategy," she said.

The report recommended collaboration on a monitoring framework that would include tools such as in-stream sensors, and the results made available to the public. In a move aligned with other states along the Mississippi River, the reduction strategy seeks at least a 45% reduction in total nitrogen and phosphorus loads.

The state departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture did not provide comments for this report before deadline.

While groups such as hers push for more information, Vasto said there are signs that Iowa's water-quality situation is getting worse. This includes more algae blooms that make the water less safe for recreation.

"It just kind of lowers the average quality of life for Iowans that we can't go out and access and enjoy our public waterways," she said, "because there's this pollution that is making them toxic."

A 2018 study by the University of Iowa found a nearly 50% increase over two decades in the amount of nitrogen pollution flowing from the state to the Gulf of Mexico. Last year, state lawmakers passed a major extension of funding for its strategy, but Vasto said unless monitoring improves, that money could be going to waste.