Why It Matters
Colorado is facing one of its most severe drought years on record, with water supplies, fish populations, and wildfire risk all deteriorating rapidly. The state’s drought conditions threaten agricultural operations, municipal water systems, and river ecosystems across multiple basins — raising the stakes for officials weighing how aggressively to respond.
What Happened
The Colorado Drought Task Force convened Monday in Winter Park, marking its third meeting since Governor Jared Polis activated the body and moved the state to phase two of its drought response plan on March 16. At Monday’s meeting, task force members formally called on Governor Polis to declare a drought emergency and advance the state to phase three — the plan’s highest response level.
Nate Pearson, assistant director for water policy at the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, urged swift action. “Moving to phase three and declaring a drought emergency is something we should do as soon as possible,” Pearson said.
Phase three activation could allow Colorado to access additional state resources and potentially open the door to a presidential disaster declaration, broadening the pool of aid available to affected communities and industries.
Officials cited a winter that ended roughly a month ahead of schedule, record-low snowpack, and river flows that have already fallen to historically low levels across nearly all of the state’s major basins. By the time of the Monday meeting, snowpack had largely disappeared.
By the Numbers
As of May 26, approximately 94 percent of Colorado was experiencing some level of drought conditions. Just under 10 percent of the state had reached exceptional drought — the most severe classification on the scale.
River conditions illustrated the depth of the crisis. Flows on the Arkansas River through Salida have dropped below levels recorded during the severe 2002 drought. The White River near Meeker is in what officials described as uncharted territory, registering lower flows in early May than in any previously recorded year. The Rio Grande near Del Norte peaked early but remained slightly above 2002 benchmarks.
The drought task force has been activated on only four prior occasions: April 2002, May 2011, May 2018, and June 2020 — underscoring how rare the current escalation to phase three consideration has become.
Zoom Out
Colorado’s situation reflects a broader pattern of deepening water stress across the American West. Multi-year drought cycles, early snowmelt, and rising temperatures have strained river systems and reservoir storage from the Colorado River basin to the Rio Grande watershed. States throughout the region have increasingly turned to emergency declarations and federal drought assistance as traditional water management tools struggle to keep pace with shifting conditions.
Warm, dry conditions also compound wildfire risk — a concern that resonates across Colorado communities that have experienced repeated fire seasons in recent years. Rising river temperatures and deteriorating water quality pose a particular threat to cold-water fish species already stressed by lower flows.
What’s Next
The task force’s recommendation now rests with Governor Polis, who would need to issue the emergency proclamation and authorize the move to phase three. State officials have not announced a timeline for the governor’s decision. If Colorado advances to phase three and subsequently seeks federal assistance, the process would involve a formal request to the White House for a presidential disaster declaration — a step that could unlock additional resources for drought-stricken communities, water utilities, and agricultural operations across the state.
State agencies are continuing to monitor river levels and drought indicators as the summer season — typically the period of highest water demand and lowest natural flows — gets underway.