The West (Barely) Dodges a Bullet
Feds don’t declare water shortage of Colorado River, but we’re still using too much
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 16, 2016)—Today, the Bureau of Reclamation confirms that a shortage of the Colorado River will not be declared as water levels at Lake Mead are projected to remain above a critical 1075-acre-foot threshold on January 1, 2017. The Colorado River provides drinking water for more than 36 million people, and the shortage declaration would have triggered immediate cuts to water received by Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. The riparian habitat along the Colorado River basin is crucial habitat for more than 350 bird species. The National Audubon Society issued the following statement:
“We somehow avoided a shortage declaration, but we’re still using way too much water,” said Jennifer Pitt, Audubon’s Colorado River project director. “Avoiding this annual ‘will they or won’t they’ around Lake Mead’s water levels will require scaled up efforts to conserve water basin-wide that will get us back to sustainable levels of water use. The good news is that we know how to do this in a way that allows birds and people to thrive along the Colorado River—we just need help from state and federal officials every step of the way.”
The Colorado River and its tributaries support hundreds of species of breeding birds such as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Bell’s Vireo, Summer Tanager, Yellow Warbler and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. Freshwater habitats (rivers, lakes, wetlands, estuaries and deltas) are some of the most threatened ecosystems in the arid West.
To learn more about Audubon’s efforts to protect and restore healthy riparian habitats across the West, please visit www.audubon.org/conservation/project/western-rivers.
The National Audubon Society saves birds and their habitats throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more at www.audubon.org and @audubonsociety.
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Contact: Nicolas Gonzalez, ngonzalez@audubon.org, (212) 979-3068.