The Straightforward Fix for Colorado River Water
Desalination Powered by Small Modular Reactors

By Michael J Badagliacco, “MJB”

Colorado’s water rights must never become a bargaining chip.

The 1922 Colorado River Compact apportioned 7.5 million acre-feet annually to the Upper Basin, including Colorado, and the same amount to the Lower Basin states. The 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act fixed specific Lower Basin shares: California 4.4 million acre-feet, Arizona 2.8 million acre-feet, and Nevada 0.3 million acre-feet. The 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact later assigned Colorado roughly 51.75% of the Upper Basin’s share, or about 3.86 million acre-feet. The 1964 Arizona v. California Supreme Court decree confirmed federal oversight of these mainstream allocations while highlighting the need for supply solutions beyond repeated upstream cuts.

Congress authorized the seven basin states to negotiate the Compact in 1921 and formally approved it in Section 13 of the 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act. This satisfied the constitutional requirement under Article I, Section 10 that interstate compacts receive congressional consent. The framers included this safeguard to maintain federal supremacy while allowing states to resolve practical disputes. The resulting framework became the foundation of the Law of the River. However, the allocations were based on assumptions of much higher river flows and far less development than what exists today. Those original shares now bind Upper Basin states like Colorado to deliveries that no longer reflect current reality or the explosive growth that has occurred downstream.

The Current Crisis

These legal documents assumed average river flows near 16.4 million acre-feet. Actual flows since 2000 average only 12.4 million acre-feet due to drought and Lower Basin temperatures 2.2°F above the twentieth-century average. Combined storage in Lake Mead and Lake Powell fell to just 24% of capacity in 2023, with Lake Powell at 44% of typical levels by late 2025. Both reservoirs are now under declared shortage conditions.

The Lower Basin has undergone dramatic transformation since the 1920s. California and Arizona have built vast urban centers, sprawling suburbs, and intensive agriculture that together consume their full legal shares year after year. Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, and Las Vegas have grown into major metropolitan areas with millions of residents, extensive golf courses, swimming pools, lawns, and commercial landscapes that demand reliable water deliveries. Agricultural production has expanded dramatically, supported by the very deliveries the Upper Basin is obligated to provide. This development far exceeds what declining natural flows can sustainably support. Upper Basin states like Colorado continue to deliver water while using less than their full entitlement, creating unsustainable pressure on Colorado communities, farms, and future economic growth.

A Proven Technology for New Supply

Reverse osmosis desalination has operated commercially for more than fifty years. The Carlsbad Desalination Plant, completed in 2015 at roughly $1 billion, produces 50 million gallons per day (approximately 56,000 acre-feet annually) using about 3,500 kilowatt-hours per acre-foot. It supplies roughly 7% of San Diego County’s needs. Multiple coastal facilities could generate millions of additional acre-feet yearly for direct delivery to the Los Angeles Basin or for pumping into Lake Powell and Lake Mead, restoring storage without further taxing Colorado’s apportionment.

Powering Plants with Safe, Compact Nuclear Reactors

Power demands pose no barrier. Small modular reactors such as NuScale designs are factory-built units roughly the size of a semi-trailer. One module can support desalination output of about 150 million gallons per day. Placing two units per offshore platform delivers full redundancy, complete energy independence and zero added strain on the power grid. These reactors are safe, emissions-free, and economically competitive over their lifespan.

The Real Cost of Inaction

In discussions with Congressman Jeff Hurd of Colorado’s 3rd District, he cited prohibitive expense and grid strain as the main reasons for not advancing desalination. Yet the cost of continued inaction is far higher. Water use across the basin generates more than $20 billion in annual economic benefits, with urban sectors alone contributing $18.3 billion. Past droughts have already slashed crop acreage, raised food costs, and imposed billions of dollars in direct losses on agriculture and communities in California, Arizona, and Colorado. Prolonged shortages risk public health impacts and irreversible economic contraction.

Leadership That Seeks Solutions

Some, including Congressman Jeff Hurd, have responded to such proposals with excuses about cost and infrastructure instead of championing solutions. The National Environmental Policy Act and existing coastal permitting processes proved workable after thorough review; similar diligence can advance new plants and co-located nuclear platforms.

The Earth’s surface is two-thirds water. The legal framework exists. The engineering is mature. Colorado’s water belongs to Colorado under the Law of the River. By pursuing large-scale desalination powered by small modular reactors, the basin can achieve genuine abundance while ending the annual cycle of crisis and concession. The solution is simple and long overdue.