The seven states that rely on water from the shrinking Colorado River are unlikely to agree to voluntarily make deep reductions in their water use, negotiators say, which would force the federal government to impose cuts for the first time.
The Interior Department had asked the states to voluntarily come up with a plan by Jan. 31 to collectively cut the amount of water they draw from the Colorado. The demand for those cuts, on a scale without parallel in U.S. history, was prompted by precipitous declines in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which provide water and electricity for Arizona, Nevada and Southern California. Drought, climate change and population growth have caused water levels in the lakes to plummet.
The crisis over the Colorado River is the latest example of how climate change is overwhelming the foundations of American life — not only physical infrastructure, like dams and reservoirs, but also the legal underpinnings that have made those systems work. The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico, which rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources.
The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico, which rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources. In June, the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Camille C. Touton, gave the states 60 days to come up with a plan to reduce their use of Colorado River water by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet — about 20% to 40% of the river’s entire flow.
The department’s latest request and new deadline, set for Jan. 31, has led to a new round of negotiations, and finger-pointing, among the states. And Nevada has already imposed some of the basin’s most aggressive water-conservation strategies, according to John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The state has even outlawed some types of lawns.
“We have sound legal footing,” Hamby said in an interview. He said that fast-growing Arizona should have been ready for the Colorado River drying up. “That’s kind of a responsibility on their part to plan for these risk factors.” But the money came with a catch. In return for their support, California’s legislators insisted on a provision that their state’s water rights take priority over the aqueduct.
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Feds may alter Colorado River forecast methods slammed as too rosyFor Star subscribers: A switch to a more pessimistic forecasting model by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation could possibly trigger larger cutbacks in water deliveries, among other potential ramifications.
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AP Exclusive: Emails reveal tensions in Colorado River talksCompeting priorities, outsized demands and the federal government's retreat from a threatened deadline all combined to thwart a voluntary deal last summer on how to drastically cut water use from the parched Colorado River
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AP Exclusive: Emails reveal tensions in Colorado River talksCompeting priorities, outsized demands and the federal government's retreat from a threatened deadline all combined to thwart a voluntary deal last summer on how to drastically cut water use from the parched Colorado River
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Why desert golf courses and artificial lakes remain untouched by the Colorado River crisisIn the Coachella Valley, water continues flowing to artificial lakes and lush golf courses, even as the Colorado River reaches new lows. Critics say it’s time to limit heavy water use. But elected leaders have taken a different approach.
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Emails reveal tensions in Colorado River talksCompeting priorities, outsized demands and the federal government's retreat from a threatened deadline stymied a deal last summer on how to drastically reduce water use from the Colorado River.
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AP Exclusive: Emails reveal tensions in Colorado River talksCompeting priorities, outsized demands and the federal government's retreat from a threatened deadline stymied a deal last summer on how to reduce water use from the Colorado River, emails show
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