Colorado River Post-2026 Operational Guidelines Alternatives Provide Panoply of Criteria for Analysis

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released the “Alternatives Report: Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead,” which provides details of the alternatives that are being considered to replace the 2007 Interim Guidelines that expire at the end of next year. The Alternatives Report— which is not required under the federal process but was published to enhance transparency and public understanding of the process and to increase opportunities for collaboration—follows a three-page bullet-pointed summary of the alternatives and provides greater detail and compares operational details across the alternatives.

The report discusses five alternatives, including a “no action” alternative. Reclamation clearly notes two important points about the no action alternative:

1. “No action” does not mean that Reclamation will cease operating the Colorado River Dams. Reclamation has an obligation under the Colorado River Basin Act of 1968 and the follow-on policy known as the Long-Range Operating Criteria to coordinate operations of the Colorado River reservoirs. The No Action Alternative assumes that operations will revert to the operating guidance that was used prior to the adoption of the 2007 Interim Guidelines.

2. The No Action Alternative was included because it provides a benchmark for analyses and comparisons under the NEPA process. Reclamation does not expect it to be considered for adoption.

The remaining four alternatives are Federal Authorities, Federal Authorities Hybrid, Cooperative Conservation, and Basin Hybrid Alternatives. They all have different primary purposes.