Colorado River Operations
Colorado River Operations
Currently, Colorado River operations are guided by what’s known as the “Law of the River,” which includes the 2007 Interim Guidelines and the Drought Contingency Plan. This has subsequently led to Colorado River reductions, a 2024 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and voluntary and mandatory Lake Mead Conservation as shown on our Colorado River Conditions Dashboard. Programs are also in place to create new or enhanced habitat within the historic 100-year floodplain of the Lower Colorado River and to reduce salinity loads in the Colorado River Basin.
2007 Interim Guidelines
The 2007 Interim Guidelines established a shortage framework for the Lower Colorado River Basin. This included incentivizing storage of water in Lake Mead (Intentionally Created Surplus or ICS) and coordinating operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead via the 24-Month Study and ongoing hydrologic modeling.
