Can the Colorado River Survive 2026?

Reporting on the front lines of low water for Sierra Magazine

How is the Colorado River doing?

To get to the river and listen, there is an intricate web of management issues, antiquated infrastructure, and century-old legal disputes to thrash through. Unless you’ve gone outside in the Southwest lately. A 26-year drought is sucking the river dry, and unprecedented heat is rapidly evaporating this year's record-low snowpack.

These two conditions are leading to low water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the nation’s two largest reservoirs. That, in turn, jeopardizes critical water infrastructure for a large swath of the West.

Reporting on this issue from the front lines, the growing margins of Lake Powell returning to Glen Canyon, made this reality strikingly clear. The river’s returning are only a portion of this watershed story. There are major questions about how the Colorado River will make it past Glen Canyon Dam in a rapidly drying future. Whether you love or hate Lake Powell, this is not an issue of recreation; it is about water equity for millions of people, desert ecosystems, and wildlife.

Here is the full story for Sierra Magazine: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/can-colorado-river-survive-2026

A 1,500-word story is painfully insufficient to explain the breadth of this issue that threatens an entire watershed. Writing a book is starting to feel sane! Of course, I do not make this easy for myself, always crawling around in the desert and floating around the watershed. But there is good reason to take the long view. As I write Riverside (Torrey House Press 2027), my life will continue its pulse between the river and writing flash floods. My PFD is on tight. Thanks for hopping aboard.

Here are some photos taken throughout the watershed as I reported on the Colorado River for Sierra.

Low tide on Powell Reservoir.

A river returns. Almost 50 miles of the San Juan, once inundated by Powell Reservoir, are flowing free.

The humpback chub have inhabited the Colorado River watershed for 5 million years. The next 12-months might be their most critical to survival.

The Little Colorado River, a Grand Canyon tributary, is a critical stronghold for the humpback chub.

With such low flows, the Colorado River Basin will likely turn to pumping groundwater. The threat to springs affects the river’s baseflows, which are significantly supported by groundwater and springs.

"There's not economic adjustments that the birds can make. A payout doesn't help the birds that use those habitats."––Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River program director for Audubon

Last year, Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) granted the Colorado River legal personhood under tribal law.

The final words of any story are transmitted from a laptop, but the writing process all happens out here, with the watershed.