Trump freezes payments necessary to keep the Colorado River flowing

The first executive order President Trump signed in his second term, "Unleashing American Energy," wouldn't seem to have a direct impact on how much water is in the Colorado River, at least in the short term. The order says, "All agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022."

While some of those funds were earmarked to prop up renewable energy, at least $4 billion was set aside to protect the flow of the Colorado River, which supplies about 40 million people with drinking water, is the foundation for a massive agricultural economy across the Southwest, and generates significant hydroelectric power.

The river is shrinking due to climate change, which means the nation's two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, created by dams on the Colorado River, have reached record low levels in recent years amid a megadrought spanning more than two decades. If water levels fall much lower, they could lose the ability to generate hydropower within the massive dams that hold them back, or even lose the ability to pass water downstream.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allowed President Biden to designate $4 billion for Colorado River programs, including big sums for programs that pay farmers, cities and Native American tribes to conserve Colorado River water and, instead, leave it in those reservoirs. The payments are compensation for money they can't make by using their water to grow crops or for other uses.

Some water experts say they are surprised to see these water conservation programs frozen by Trump's executive order, since they do not appear to be in line with the president's stated priorities of eliminating diversity programs and boosting domestic energy production. "These are not woke environmental programs," said Anne Castle, who held federal water policy roles during the Biden and Obama administrations. "These are essential to continued ability to divert water."