Wyoming

California Water Experts Call for Cooperation on Colorado River Impasse

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:32:08 GMT

There are just over two weeks left for the seven states that depend on the Colorado River to come to an agreement on how to manage its dwindling water resources. This water is critical to millions of people and agricultural acres across the river’s basin, as well as key sectors of California’s fresh produce industry.

If the states can’t agree on a management plan for the Colorado River by Feb. 14, the federal government may step in with its plans. Experts doubt those plans will solve the issues facing the Colorado River, however, and say it could likely result in decades of lawsuits and uncertainty.

While the states have been at an impasse for over two years now, California water and irrigation experts are hopeful for cooperation ahead of the deadline.

“It’s important that we remember as we move forward that we’re all in this together,” says Frank Venegas, water technician for the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe. “We have to develop partnerships. If we have some partnerships already, [we have] to make them stronger as we move forward into this next era of the negotiations.”

Venegas was one of several panelists who spoke during a Jan. 28 webinar hosted by the California Natural Resources Agency. Panelists spoke on the relevance of the Colorado River water to California, the challenges facing it, what has happened to address those challenges and what needs to happen in the future of its management.

Not Enough Water to Go Around

Seven states and Mexico depend on and share the water of the Colorado River. The states are divided into the Upper Basin (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico) and the Lower Basin (California, Arizona and Nevada).

However, much like the situation between the U.S. and Mexico on the Rio Grande , the Colorado River is overallocated.

Michael Anderson, California state climatologist, explained during the webinar that the average flow through the river from 1910 to 2000 was roughly 15 million acre-feet annually. The 1922 Colorado River Compact operated on this reality, stipulating that the Upper and Lower Basins would each receive 7.5 MAF annually. Of the Lower Basin’s total allocation, California receives the lion’s share at 4.4 MAF. This also makes it the largest single recipient of Colorado River water in the entire basin.

The 1922 compact granted any water over the states’ 15 MAF allocation to Mexico. The 1944 treaty between the U.S. and Mexico changed this, allocating an additional 1.5 MAF annually to Mexico. This brought the river’s total annual allocations to 16.5 MAF.

Since the early 2000s, however, average annual flow rates have been slightly over 12.5 MAF because of extended drought in the Colorado River Basin. Experts expect the stress on the river and its basin will continue due to climate change and continued warming in the West.

Anderson explains that a warmer West means more moisture will be pulled out of the landscape, including the Colorado River. At the same time, climate change means storms are bigger and more intense, as well as more spread out and less predictable. Warmer temperatures also mean that snowpacks, on which the Colorado River depends, are getting smaller and less dependable.

All these factors also compound on one another. For example, the drier things get, the more dust there is on the landscape.

“Dust from the deserts being blown up onto the snowpack makes it melt earlier, meaning you have that longer period of dryness in the basin to stress the landscape even further,” Anderson says. “So a lot of forces [are] working to make things more challenging in the basin, to be sure.”

California Produce Needs Colorado River Water

Challenges to the Colorado River Basin pose a threat to everyone and everything that depends on its water.

While roughly 40 million people across the entire basin depend on water from the Colorado River, the river’s water also makes specific sectors of fresh produce possible, particularly in California. Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, points to the Imperial Irrigation District, which gets all of its water from the Colorado River Basin, as an example.

“Because they have such a long growing season with few days below freezing, the farmers in IID produce about two-thirds of the nation’s winter vegetables,” she says.

JB Hamby, vice chair of the IID board of directors and chair of the state’s Colorado River Board, quantifies the impact in another way, pointing to 600,000 acres “of highly productive farmland in production all-year round, some of the most high-value and productive in the basin.” He specifically names the Imperial Valley, Bard Valley, the land of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe and the Coachella Valley in his example.

Robert Cheng, assistant general manager of the Coachella Valley Water District, says the area — known for its unique produce items like dates, citrus, melons and specialty vegetables — could not survive without Colorado River water.

“We really depend pretty heavily on the Colorado River Basin,” he says, noting that Colorado River water makes up 75% or more of the area’s imported water annually. “And despite holding senior Colorado River water rights, we also very much understand the importance of working these issues out collaboratively.”

Feb. 14: Deadline to a Decision

Collaboration on the Colorado River Basin has been complicated, however.

The 2007 agreement governing how water is managed along the Colorado River during times of shortages expired at the end of 2025. The 2007 rules will remain in effect until the end of the 2026 water year on Sept. 30. In what is often called “the post-2026 negotiations,” the seven basin states have been attempting to come up with a replacement management plan that all parties agree on for the past two years.

Thus far, no agreement has been reached.

On Jan. 16, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released its own version of a water management plan for the Colorado River in the form of a draft environmental impact statement .

“The Department of the Interior is moving forward with this process to ensure environmental compliance is in place so operations can continue without interruption when the current guidelines expire,” Andrea Travnicek, USBR assistant secretary for water and science, said in the group’s announcement from Jan. 9. “The river and the 40 million people who depend on it cannot wait. In the face of an ongoing severe drought, inaction is not an option.”

The draft environmental impact statement examines five different strategies for managing Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two key reservoirs along the Colorado River. While USBR has not identified a preferred alternative out of the five, it has given the seven states a Feb. 14 deadline to come up with an agreement or it may select one within its jurisdiction to pursue.

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times , some of those alternatives are alarming for California and could “lead to lengthy litigation,” according to Shivaji Deshmukh, the general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Metropolitan is the country’s largest water district, serving almost 20 million people, and half of those who depend on the Colorado River for water.

Cooperation is Key

Deshmukh, who spoke at the Jan. 28 webinar, outlines the importance of the Colorado River water to his largely urban constituents. However, he also stresses the importance of partnership and collaborative efforts to reduce demand and cooperate with all water users.

“We have not pitted ourselves against flows of water in the environment or for agriculture, but rather figured out ways to partner, whether it is looking at ways to partner with the state on programs to better balance water supply throughout the state of California or very unique and agency-specific partnerships with our agricultural partners, including IID, Coachella Valley and the Quezon Tribe,” he says.

“We know that without a consensus approach to these negotiations, we could be left with some really severe cuts along the river,” he adds.

All other panelists and participants also call for cooperation and collaboration among the seven states.

“We’re really focused with working across states,” says Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency.

“We know that the future is going to be better when the seven states actually decide the path forward versus looking to the federal government or, at worst, getting mired in litigation, which really characterized so much water management over the last century in the basin,” he says.

Plenty makes plans to dive into R&D at new Wyoming facility: A Q&A with Nate Storey

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 13:09:40 GMT

Scaling up doesn’t always mean building up and out; sometimes it can involve investing in the capacity to dive deep into research and ask the right questions.

Case in point: California-based indoor grower Plenty Unlimited Inc. has spent nearly a decade learning the ropes and evolving its approach to indoor agriculture and recently has jumped on an opportunity to grow by making a big investment in R&D.

Plenty has confirmed that it’s building the world’s largest and most advanced vertical farming research center in Laramie, Wyo., slated to open in 2025. The project is supported in part by a $20 million grant from the state of Wyoming through the Wyoming Business Council to the city of Laramie to help with construction and infrastructure costs. Additional funding, land and support for the project is being provided by the city of Laramie and the Laramie Chamber Business Alliance.

“Creating this new center of excellence greatly expands Plenty’s ability to transform indoor agriculture,” Plenty CEO Arama Kukutai said in a news release. “We’ve already built one of the top indoor farming research ecosystems in the world in Wyoming. ... This continued commitment to innovation is what’s needed to push indoor farming forward and make fresh food accessible to everyone.”

Related news: High-tech or traditional, organic or conventional, growing indoors takes a tailored approach

Built on 16 acres, Plenty’s new research center is projected to span 60,000 square feet. The new facility will double Plenty’s research space compared to its previous Laramie facility that it has occupied since 2016. What’s more, the new research facility will diversify the grower’s research environments and support the transition of new crops to commercial farms.

To learn more about Plenty’s recent investments into R&D, its plans for a new center and what this means, The Packer recently connected with Plenty co-founder and Chief Science Officer Nate Storey.

The Packer: How does this new R&D facility in Laramie, Wyo., fit into Plenty’s strategic growth plan?

Storey: Plenty’s mission is to provide fresh food to everyone, everywhere. At the heart of how we make progress toward that mission is our research and development. Expanding our plant science research work with this new center will expand our capability to grow the widest variety of crops and accelerate our pipeline, which is key to unlocking the potential of this category and addresses a major limitation for the industry today.

The new facility will also support the transition of new crops to commercial farms by incorporating areas that more closely mirror Plenty farm environments. We’ve grown 1,400-plus cultivars in our system thus far and will continue pushing to perfect and commercialize a wider variety of crops through the work done in our plant science research center.

What makes this new plant science research center so innovative?

With plans to span more than 60,000 square feet, the new research center will be the world’s largest vertical farming research center. It will double Plenty’s research space, which is already one of the top indoor farming research ecosystems. It will also diversify Plenty’s research environments, including more closely mirroring its farms to support the transition of new crops to commercial farms.

Beyond leafy greens, what are the first crops you plan on trialing the new facility in Laramie, Wyo.?

In our current plant science research center in Laramie, working toward commercialization of strawberries and tomatoes is our primary crop focus, but we’ve grown more than 50 different crops in our vertical grow systems so far.

Doubling our research space will give the ability to expand our efforts on both commercial crops and new crop research, so I expect we’ll be experimenting with an even wider variety of crops in that new space. We’ll have a lot more learnings by the time this space opens in 2025, so time will tell which specific crops will make up the bulk of our initial focus in the new space.

When do you anticipate the R&D facility will open its doors?

We plan to begin construction later this year and open the facility in early 2025. Our team and research work will transfer to the new facility from our current Laramie location once it’s completed.

What direction do you see indoor agriculture evolving over the next few years?

Compared to field agriculture, indoor farming is still in the very early stages — particularly vertical farming.

I think indoor farming has tremendous potential to create stable, regional supplies of fresh, healthy food for all communities. In my opinion, companies in our space will have to put R&D at the heart of their operations to drive the diversification and unit economics needed to scale.

Can you share some insight on Plenty’s grant process with the state of Wyoming?

This project was developed over time in close partnership with the Wyoming Business Council, the city of Laramie and the Laramie Chamber Business Alliance. All were instrumental in developing the proposal and helping garner the support necessary to secure the grant, as were our partners at Hickey and Associates.

Is this expansion towards the middle of the country a signal that Plenty will continue to expand across the U.S.?

We’ve had an R&D base in Laramie since our inception. While the work we do there makes it possible to expand the diversity of crops we grow and optimize them for commercial production, we look at our Laramie location separately from our commercial farms.

On the commercial front, we’re expanding to the East Coast, with the world’s largest indoor vertical farm campus near Richmond, Va. We’ve broken ground on the campus’s first farm, which is the world’s first indoor vertical farm to grow strawberries at scale. Together with our partner Driscoll’s, we expect to have berries in the market from that farm next year.

Do you foresee commercial production taking place at your Compton, Calif., facility exclusively, or do you plan to add additional facilities in the future?

Compton is just the start of our commercial production. We’ve already broken ground on our next farm near Richmond, Va., which will be focused on growing strawberries. We expect to have strawberries in the Northeast market with our partner, Driscoll’s, next year.

We’re working to expand access to fresh food, so we’ll continue to explore opportunities in communities both nationally and internationally where we can have the greatest impact.

What are you most excited about for Plenty in 2023?

Plenty has big ambitions to change the future of food by making affordable fresh food accessible to everyone, everywhere. This is just the beginning of Plenty’s work to scale its impact by expanding its footprint, diversifying the crops it grows and teaming up with some of the biggest names in retail and produce.

What challenges do you anticipate navigating in the coming year?

Indoor growers have the potential to take some of the strain off outdoor field growers and increase the stability of the food supply chain. Plenty is working to solve two critical problems for the vertical farming industry: scale and variety.

Over the coming year we’ll be focused on making progress there by fully ramping our Compton facility, completing our Virginia strawberry farm, commercializing new crops and leveraging our tech to continue driving down costs.

Top retailers in the Southwest by market share

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:42:31 GMT

Each year, The Shelby Report showcases valuable retail market share data. In the interactive map below, find each major market around the Southwest. Also, highlighted are the major cities in each market.

All markets are “labeled” or identified by their primary state (with metros or key cities). Percentages are estimates based on annualized sales, industry data, institutional research and store footprints. Shares are updated as market metrics dictate and retailers supply their store lists.*

Market shares are for chains, independents and/or the wholesalers (voluntary or cooperative) which supply them within each region’s distribution area, extending well beyond typical metros or CBSAs. Each market is defined by the sphere of distribution, not by a rigid geographic boundary.

Major cities in each market:

Colorado/Wyoming/Nebraska/South Dakota - Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs,
Ft Collins, Pueblo, Grand Junctiion, Cheyenne
West Texas/New Mexico/Colorado/Kansas - Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, El Paso, Amarillo,
Lubbock, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Odessa
South Texas - San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Laredo,
Corpus Christi, McAllen, Brownsville
North Texas/Louisana/Arkansas/Oklahoma - Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, Longview, Shreveport
East Texas/Louisiana - Houston, Pasadena, Galveston, Bryan,
Beaumont, Port Arthur, Lake Charles
Oklahoma - Oklahoma City, Tulsa
Springfield, MO - Springfield, MO; Fayetteville, Bentonville, AR

Top retailers in the West by market share

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 07:42:33 GMT

Each year, The Shelby Report showcases valuable retail market share data. In the interactive map below, find each major market around the West Coast. Major cities in each market are highlighted.

Market shares are for chains, independents and/or the wholesalers (voluntary or cooperative) which supply them within each region’s distribution area, extending well beyond typical metros or Core-Based Statistical Areas. Each market is defined by the sphere of distribution, not by a rigid geographic boundary.

All markets are identified by their primary state (with metros or key cities). Percentages are estimates based on annualized sales, industry data, institutional research and store footprints.

Major cities in each market:

Arizona - Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma
East Washington/Idaho/Montana - Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Missoula
Montana/Wyoming - Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Cody
Northern California/Nevada - San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Fresno, Reno
Oregon/Washington/California - Portland, Salem, Eugene, Medford, Vancouver, Crescent City
Utah/Idaho/Wyoming/Nevada/Oregon - Salt Lake City, St. George, Boise, Twin Falls
Southern California/Nevada - Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Bakersfield, Las Vegas
Washington - Seattle, Tocoma, Olympia, Bellingham, Yakima