WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and John Curtis introduced the bipartisan Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 to help better predict and measure water supply to manage drought in the West, including on the Colorado River. Tomorrow, July 25th, is Colorado River Day, which celebrates the day when the river was officially renamed to the Colorado River in 1921.
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” said Hickenlooper. “Snowmelt is Colorado’s largest reservoir. Leveraging advanced snow monitoring tech will give us more accurate water predictions and unlock a better understanding of how to make the most of our water in an era of extreme drought.”
“In the West, water is everything—our economy, our communities, and our way of life depend on it,” said Curtis. “This bill brings 21st century tools to one of the oldest challenges we face: knowing how much water we’ll have and when. By reauthorizing this program, we’re embracing new technology like airborne snow surveys and advanced modeling to give our water managers the clarity they need to prepare, allocate, and respond.”
More than 80% of Colorado’s annual surface water supply comes from snowmelt runoff. Accurate measurements of snowpack are necessary to have a clear picture of the snowmelt that feeds rivers and streams across the West.
The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize the Bureau of Reclamation’s (BOR) Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program which provides grants to advance emerging snow monitoring technology that improve water supply predictions.
Specifically, the bill would:
- Reauthorize BOR’s Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program through 2031
- Increase authorization from $15 million over five years to $32.5 million over five years
- Update language in existing authorization to emphasize water supply forecasting activities that inform interstate water management decisions
Yesterday, Representatives Joe Neguse and Jeff Hurd’s companion legislation advanced out of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
As governor, Hickenlooper helped negotiate the 2019 Colorado River Basin Drought Contingency Plan, which helped protect critical levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead and ensured continued compliance with the 1922 Colorado River Compact. In the Senate, Hickenlooper convened the bipartisan Colorado River Caucus to help address the Colorado River crisis.
The bipartisan Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 is supported by American Rivers, the Southwestern Water Conservation District, Colorado River District, Upper Colorado River Commission, Denver Water, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado Water Congress, Colorado Municipal League, Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado, the Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, the National Ski Areas Association, the Family Farm Alliance, the National Audubon Society, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
Full text of the bill available HERE.
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