Colorado River commissioner: state will defend Colorado water users while engaging on post-2026 guidelines

Becky Mitchell, Colorado's River Commissioner, briefed the Joint Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee on the federal process to develop post-2026 operating guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

"The most important of these priorities is to protect Colorado water users," Mitchell said, summarizing Colorado's negotiating North Star as the basin process moves toward new operating rules that will replace the 2007 interim guidelines. She told lawmakers the Bureau of Reclamation has issued five initial alternatives and that Colorado will file separate NEPA comments while coordinating with the Upper Colorado River Commission and water users.

Mitchell said Colorado is open to being part of a solution and has placed options "on the table," including reservoir releases under certain conditions and conservation programs coordinated among upper basin states, but she insisted any program must be supply driven and include appropriate "sideboards" and phasing. "A consensus approach must be based on available supply and variable hydrology," she told the committee.

State Engineer Jason Ullman gave a related update on a separate South Platte compact dispute: Nebraska's Perkins County Canal petition to the U.S. Supreme Court prompted a Colorado response arguing the case was premature; the Solicitor General's office asked for further input and Colorado officials will meet federal counsel in Washington. Ullman also described the Corps' NEPA schedule for any Perkins County Canal environmental review and said DNR will be a cooperating agency in that process.

Committee members asked whether the federal alternatives and recent federal actions change Colorado's bargaining position. Mitchell said she remains optimistic about a negotiated outcome but warned that some proposed options could transfer risk to the Lower Basin and that Colorado will continue to negotiate only with willing parties and to defend upper-basin users' interests.

The committee's public record showed no formal votes on any new legislation or federal comment at the hearing; the presentation framed the state's near-term posture in an active federal rulemaking process.