The deadline from the Interior Department came and went without an agreement by all seven states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) that depend on water from the diminishing Colorado River. The states were asked to come up with a plan to voluntarily reduce water usage by two to four million acre-feet, or up to one-third of the river’s annual average flow.
Six of the seven states (all except California) created a proposal for how they could meet the federal government’s demands. The states proposed cuts are at the low end of what the government has asked for, and the greatest impact is on California and Arizona. However, California submitted its own proposal that starts with a 400,000-acre-foot cut and offers additional reductions if the reservoir continues to decline.
The proposal helps protect major reservoirs Lake Powell and Lake Mead from falling below critical levels that would put the dams at “dead pool.” In this situation, water is blocked from flowing out and can no longer generate electricity. The Bureau of Reclamation was projecting Lake Powell could reach these thresholds by this summer. But the above-average snowfall so far this winter may help extend this.
The Bureau of Reclamation is currently doing an environmental review of how to operate the Glen Canyon and Hoover dams at low water scenarios. The snow melt may help provide some relief by delaying when cuts must be made, but by summer, we may all see the federal government’s legal authority to make cuts to state water allotment. This will be controversial because one of the issues is how to balance the cuts between farming regions and cities.
Photo Credit: Juliet Studness
Cited Sources
Partlow, Joshua. “As the Colorado River Dries up, States Can’t Agree on Saving Water.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 6 Feb. 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/31/colorado-river-states-water-cuts-agreement/.