The Rundown
- NOAA’s Colorado River forecast center expects a record-low inflow to Lake Powell this spring and summer, another blow to an imperiled reservoir.
- FEMA reopens flood resilience grants after scrubbing reference to climate change and environmental justice.
- Interior Department is slow to distribute disaster relief funds, internal watchdog finds.
- Two Colorado River federal advisory committees – on salinity and Glen Canyon Dam – will hold public meetings this week.
And lastly, the EPA plans to begin regulatory rollback of certain PFAS in drinking water soon.
“We need drinking water rules that are legally defensible. We need drinking water regulations that are not susceptible to legal challenge because the explicit process in the Safe Drinking Water Act wasn’t followed. And so that is a huge concern.” – Jessica Kramer, head of the EPA Office of Water, speaking about the agency’s intention to scale back Biden-era federal rules for PFAS in drinking water, the Associated Press reports. For a year, the agency has signaled its plan to rescind rules for PFHxS, PFNA, and Gen X individually, as well as the regulation of those three chemicals plus PFBS, when mixed together. The agency is not defending the rules in court.
By the Numbers
800,000 Acre-Feet: Forecasted runoff into Lake Powell from April to July, according to NOAA’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center. This would be a record low for the country’s second-largest reservoir.
In context: Glen Canyon Dam Faces Its Existential Moment
News Briefs
Colorado River Basin
Runoff into Lake Powell this spring and summer is expected to be the lowest ever measured, according to the official May 1 projection from NOAA’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.
The forecast for the April to July period is 800,000 acre-feet, or just 13 percent of average. A number that small, even in this historically hot and dry year, is shocking.
The record low is 2002, when 964,000 acre-feet entered the reservoir from April to July.
This year the runoff forecast worsened each month, said Cody Moser, a hydrologist with the forecast center. “Really no good news this winter,” he said.
The Colorado River headwaters witnessed a late-season snow in the first week of May, which was better than nothing. The storms temporarily raised the runoff forecast. But it was but a blip. By May 10, the expected runoff was roughly back to the May 1 projection. Why? Temperatures well above normal have returned to the region.
April was slightly cooler and wetter than the previous months, which reduced the rate of snowmelt loss, Moser said. Still, water held in the snowpack is at record lows in much of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, the headwaters states.
A recording of the presentation is available.
In context: U.S. Government Orders Emergency Actions to Protect Glen Canyon Dam
Flood Funding with Trump Priorities
FEMA reopened a $600 million grant program for reducing flood risk after the agency scrubbed references to climate change and environmental justice from the funding notice.
The money is from fiscal year 2024, when President Joe Biden had established the Justice 40 initiative that aimed to funnel 40 percent of federal funding to low-income areas and communities of color on the front lines of environmental hazards.
The Biden-era Flood Mitigation Assistance grants, such as this FY2023 notice, promoted projects that “advanced equity” to “benefit disadvantaged communities” because of the growing risk of flooding in a changing climate. For scoring applications in 2024, being a Justice 40 community or disaster resilience zone carried the highest point value.
The Trump administration has different priorities. The new funding notice focuses on areas with high numbers of federal flood insurance policies and a high number of properties that have repeatedly flooded.
Studies and Reports
Slow Rollout of Disaster Aid
At the end of 2024, Congress approved roughly $3.1 billion for the Interior Department to respond to weather disasters that occurred that year and before. The money has not gone out the door.
According to the department’s internal watchdog, Interior has obligated only $95 million by the end of 2025. Obligated funds are a legal commitment to spend funds for a specific purpose.
The lion’s share of unobligated funds – some $2.2 billion – is for National Park Service construction. Three-quarters is planned to be spent on repairs to the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic road.
The Bureau of Reclamation had obligated 45 percent of its $74 million, which will be used to repair dams and canals.
Tracking Federal Drinking Water Funds
The EPA could improve data collection methods for tracking whether state revolving fund dollars are spent on water system projects to guard against physical attack and hacking. That’s according to an Office of the Inspector General report.
The report recommends that the agency develop a method for tracking projects and work with states on their documentation.
On the Radar
Colorado River Basin Meetings
Two Colorado River meetings coming up this week:
- On May 13 and 14, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Advisory Council, an expert group that advises federal agencies on reducing salt in the basin’s waters, will meet in Las Vegas. The meeting will be virtual and in person. Zoom links to access the meetings are here.
- On May 13, the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group, another federal advisory council, will meet virtually. Agenda items: 2026 flow experiments, endangered and threatened species, and funding. Register here.
Congressional Hearings
On May 12, the Senate Agriculture Committee will discuss the future of the fertilizer industry and securing supplies for American farmers. Ag industry reps are the primary witnesses.
On May 13, a Senate Appropriations subcommittee will hold a hearing on the EPA’s fiscal year 2027 budget request. Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, will testify.
Also on May 13, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearing on the U.S. Forest Service’s fiscal year 2027 budget request. Tom Schultz, the head of the forest service, will testify.
Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
