California and other states are proposing a new plan to save water on the Colorado River
As the Colorado River’s major lakes drop to record lows, negotiators in California, Arizona and Nevada have announced a new water conservation plan for the next two years.
Representatives of the three states said in a written statement late Friday that their plan aims to “sustain the Colorado River through 2028.” It will require greater reductions in water use than they have previously offered in negotiations with other states and the federal government.
“We are prioritizing additional measurable water contributions to the system,” said JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California. “Otherwise, the system will continue to decline.”
Negotiators with the three states say their plan identifies a water cut of more than 3.2 million hectares by 2028, depending on their previous proposal.
Representatives of the three states negotiated the interim agreement after they reached an impasse in talks with four other states on a long-term plan to share the river’s dwindling waters.
Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir near Las Vegas, is now 31 percent full.
And further upstream on the Arizona-Utah border, Lake Powell is 24% full. In the coming year, the reservoir could shrink to the point where water can no longer pass through to generate hydroelectric power.
The Colorado River provides water for approx 35 million people and 5 million acres of farmland, from the Rocky Mountains to northern Mexico. The water was originally divided between the states in 1922 under an agreement called the Colorado River Compact.
River flows have decreased significantly since 2000, and studies have shown that global warming strengthening dry conditions.
This year, snowpack in the upper reaches of the Rocky Mountains is just 22% of average, the lowest on record. That will translate into very little flow reaching the depleted river dams this year.
In a a book to the officials of the Ministry of the Interior, the top negotiators of the states said that they came up with the three-state plan because “quick and decisive action is needed.”
“We hope these actions can provide more time to develop a long-term strategy that includes actions to achieve reductions in consumption by all seven regions,” they said.
They said Arizona agreed to the largest reduction in water use, 760,000 acre-feet per year, while California agreed to 440,000 acre-feet, and Nevada would take 50,000 acre-feet less. By comparison, the city of Los Angeles uses about 500,000 acres per year.
They have yet to announce details of how the water cuts will be divided between farms and towns in the region.
Over the past five years, Southern California cities have gotten about a quarter of their water from the Colorado River. In California’s Imperial Valley, farms are completely dependent on the Colorado River.
Shivaji Deshmukh, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said it was unfortunate that all seven states could not reach an agreement.
He said the three-state plan “aims to deal with the driest conditions in history in the near term.” At the same time, he said there is still hope “an agreement can be reached next year between the seven regions for comprehensive conservation programs.”
“We have to know that the river is changing,” said Deshmukh, “and the only way we can make sure that communities, businesses and the entire ecosystem in the Southwest have the water they need for decades to come is through seven regions working together.”
