{"id":58760,"date":"2026-03-28T20:21:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T20:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-river-commissioner-gives-fiery-speech-on-river-negotiations-at-southwest-colorado-seminar\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:31:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:31:49","slug":"colorado-river-commissioner-gives-fiery-speech-on-river-negotiations-at-southwest-colorado-seminar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-river-commissioner-gives-fiery-speech-on-river-negotiations-at-southwest-colorado-seminar\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado River commissioner gives fiery speech on river negotiations at Southwest Colorado seminar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Drought
Drought conditions are depleting the Colorado River as well as Lake Powell and Lake Mead, its key water storage units, while negotiations stall. (Associated Press file photo)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Wildfire threats became a tired talking point at this year\u2019s Southwestern Water Conservation District seminar in Ignacio on Friday, but attention spiked during a fiery speech by Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell. Contentious negotiations for water cuts between the seven states that rely on the shrinking Colorado River are in a deadlock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to talk a little bit about the post 2026 negotiations. I know that\u2019s why I get invited,\u201d said Mitchell, who represents Colorado in the upper basin coalition, to an audience of more than 200 at the Sky Ute Casino Resort. \u201cHopefully, someday, I won\u2019t be as popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

This winter season\u2019s warm temperatures and dry weather coincide with the expiration of water conservation agreements and drought plans made between the upper basin, which includes Colorado, and lower basin states. Lake Powell and Lake Mead, key water storage units in the Colorado River supply system, are at critically low levels.<\/p>\n

Despite the crisis, deadlines for establishing new agreements before federal government intervention continue to be surpassed, with water cuts remaining the source of contention. Upper basin states argue they have long conserved water and advocate shifting cuts onto lower basin states, which object.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pain that is caused within this state on the hydrology of this year now \u2013 cutting below that? Cutting beyond that? You\u2019ve got to be kidding me,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cIt feels like it\u2019s about inflicting pain on where pain is already being inflicted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell speaks on the dismal state of Colorado River negotiations between the seven states that utilize its dwindling water resources. (Ann Marie Vanderveen\/The Journal)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Water cuts are of particular concern to agricultural operations, which have seen less water flowing from the river in recent years. According to Mitchell, southwestern Colorado is among the areas hardest hit by shortages.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the backbone of our economy, our way of life and our diverse communities,\u201d Mitchell said of the river.<\/p>\n

She also applauded Ute Mountain Ute water conservation efforts, noting the tribe is using only a small fraction of its allocated water.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they saying, \u2018Sorry, we need to meet all these needs and we have all these national security concerns; we\u2019re more important?\u2019\u201d Mitchell asked, referencing a statement by Arizona Democrats<\/a> opposing proposed water cuts limited to lower basin states. \u201cNo. They\u2019re saying, \u2018There is a solution, and we will find it. And we will find it first within ourselves before we go knocking on our neighbor\u2019s door.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell received a standing ovation from the crowd after her speech. Attendees included water industry experts and ordinary citizens, according to event organizer Elaine Chick, who called this a \u201cbanner year\u201d for the seminar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWater is a lifeline to everybody and we\u2019re in a pretty critical state right now,\u201d Chick said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the driest years that we can remember, and I think it\u2019s piqued a lot of people\u2019s attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

avanderveen@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Audience members gave a standing ovation to Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell after an impassioned monologue about the ongoing battle over the Colorado River<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5737,5736,5735,5741],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-58760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60542,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58760\/revisions\/60542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58760"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=58760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}