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Representatives from California, Arizona and Nevada are urging the Trump administration to take a different approach when tackling the issue of the water-soaked Colorado River.
As Trump’s appointees have inherited the task of writing new rules to address the chronic water shortages in the river, three states have raised several concerns they want to address. One of their tops is to consider modifying or overhauling Glen Canyon Dam.
The problem with infrastructure at dams in northern Arizona has been a focus for the last few years. As Lake Powell’s levels continue to decline and reach very low levels, water can only be released from four 8-foot wide steel pipes, potentially limiting the amount that can pass downstream to three states and Mexico.
Last year, federal officials could spot damage within four tubes that could severely limit water flow when the reservoir level was low, posing a risk.
JB Humvee, a California Colorado River Commissioner, said: Modifications to Glen Canyon Dam will “thwart the need for radical cuts.”
Humvee and officials representing the governor of Arizona and Nevada, raised concerns in a letter to the Trump administration last month.
They urged Interior Doug Burgham’s secretary to scrap the Biden administration’s report, released in November, outlining options for new water management rules, and claimed it was unable to consider their proposals, violating the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
For one thing, the Federal Reclamation Agency, which manages river dams, needs to “evaluate the impact of infrastructure repairs, modifications and strengthening at Glen Canyon Dam as part of an analysis of options,” they said.
The Colorado River provides water to cities from Denver to Los Angeles, and offers 30 native tribes and farmland from the Rocky Mountains to northern Mexico. California relies on the waters of the Colorado River to supply farmlands in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys, cities from Palm Springs to San Diego.
River water has been in use for a long time, and since 2000 the reservoirs have declined dramatically. At that time, the average river flow had shrunk by about 20%, with drought in part being responsible for the drought, but scientists estimate that about half of the flow reduction was caused by global warming caused by burning green fuel and rising levels of green gas.
Lake Powell, the country’s second largest reservoir, now has a water level of 34% of its capacity. The surface of the reservoir is now 71 feet above the threshold where water cannot flow through the dam’s main intake and instead requires moving low-level bypass tubes, known as the river exit work.
The dam manager said he discovered degradation in these bypass tubes last year, and said federal officials are analyzing the options for fixing, but he is doing this on a separate track from writing the new rules for the shortage.
Representatives from the three states said in a letter on February 13 that it violated the law to not consider these “infrastructure restrictions” as part of the new rules.
“The previous administration’s approach to protecting Lake Powell outlets works by reducing releases from Lake Powell rather than repairing or improving infrastructure — sophomosighted,” they write. They said the approach would harm three states “by cutting water available to farmers, communities and the economy.”
Lake Powell has sparkled between the reddish sandstone walls of Glen Canyon along the Arizona Uta border since the dam was completed in the 1960s.
However, Glen Canyon Dam has been debated since its inception, with environmentalists claiming that its reservoirs were unnecessary and destroyed the pristine ecosystem of the canyon. In recent years, advocates for river restoration have called for gradually draining water downstream of Lake Mead near Las Vegas, and gradually draining Lake Powell.
Humvee said the dam was “built rather than a great way.” He likened it to a defective gas tank inside the car.
“There are a few options. You can either gas your car all the time or stop driving,” Humvee said. “But a better option is to fix the car.”
The push for California to take a different approach for the federal government is happening alongside the enduring disagreement that has stuck the two camps. On one side is the states of the lower basin of the river (California, Arizona, Nevada). These are stuck in negotiations with states upstream rivers in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.
Both people say they are willing to continue trying to reach a deal on ways to reduce water use since 2026, when current rules expire.
In their letter, Humvee, Tom Buschachatzke, Arizona, and John Ensminger of Nevada suggested that the potential water supply bottleneck at Glen Canyon Dam can be avoided by some combination of simple engineering modifications, by moving water from upstream reservoirs to the lake, if necessary, and by temporary replenishment of the upper basin.
They said they strongly support a “cooperative, consensus-driven approach,” but suggested that without consensus, the ongoing dispute between the seven states in the Colorado River Basin might end in court battles.
In response to questions about the state’s letter, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation said in an email that he was “actively interacting with partners in the Colorado River Basin as he worked towards a long-term river operation agreement from 2026 onwards.”
Three states emphasized in the letter that the 1922 Colorado River compact required Upper Basin to provide an average of 7.5 million acre feet per year to California, Arizona and Nevada for 10 years. If water delivery is reduced below the required minimum, it can require that the lower basin state make the so-called compact call and the upper basin state reduces water use.
The letter is that the potential compact call mentioned 23 times. If the state has not reached an agreement, the outcome will be “reasonably foreseeable” over the next few years, and its implications must be taken into consideration in reviewing federal alternatives.
“In the end, it’s essential to have a strong federal role in motivating people to come together and come compromise,” Humvee said.
Environmentalists said they agreed to California, Arizona and Nevada.
“What the letter is really trying to do is force the Bureau of Reclamation to rebuild those bypass tubes so that they can give them plenty of water,” said Save the World’s Rivers, executive director of the Colorado nonprofit. “We need an infrastructure solution that allows water to pass through or around the dam to prevent the Colorado River compact from breaching.”
During the Biden administration, federal officials said they were studying the possibility of overhauling the dam. They discussed suggestions such as penetrating the dam’s concrete to create new low levels of intake, or tunneling shafts on either side of the dam.
The Reclamation Bureau announced in September that after more than 60 years of use, the original coal ter coating was spending $8.9 million linking bypass tubes “indicating normal signs of wear and tear.” The agency said the maintenance work is expected to take about a year, so low levels of the reservoir cannot prevent the risk of additional “cavitation.” The agency said it is “working to reduce that risk” by developing interim procedures and carrying out “additional analysis.”
However, in their letter, the three states believe they must do more to address what the government considers as a dam design problem.
“The reason they wrote this letter is because they see very serious water supply risks at Glen Canyon Dam,” said Eric Balken, executive director of the nonprofit Glen Canyon Institute.
“The writing is on the wall and something is late and you have to do it sooner,” he said. “If we want to actually modify this river system in the long run, we need to have a thorough discussion about how to redesign the Glen Canyon Dam.”
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