An agreement has been reached with the Western states that rely on the Colorado River for water. The
deal has the Federal government paying water users in California, Arizona, and Nevada to use less water
for the next several years. As a result, the government will not have to make unilateral cuts to water
usage that had been threatened.
Native American tribes, water districts and farmers in the West will be paid to use about 2.3 million
acre-feet less water than they have in the past. For reference, an acre foot of water is enough to supply
about two thousand households for one year. Half of these cuts need to be implemented by the end of
next year. In addition, another 700,000 acre-feet cut would come from California, Nevada, and Arizona.
These states agreed to figure out these cuts on their own over the next few months. If these states are
not able to identify the additional cuts, the Interior Department says it will withhold water, which could
present legal and political obstacles.
The government did not say how much water users would be paid to reduce their usage. The New York
Times reported the agreement is worth about $1.2 billion.
Cited Sources
Flavelle, Christopher. “A Breakthrough Deal to Keep the Colorado River from Going Dry, for Now.” The New York Times, 22 May 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/climate/colorado-river-deal.html#:~:text=Under%20the%20agreement%20announced%20Monday%2C%20most%20of%20the,Act.%20Those%20payments%20will%20total%20about%20%241.2%20billion.
Hughes, Trevor. “Officials Will Pay People to Use Less Water from Colorado River Basin in New Agreement.” USA Today, 23 May 2023, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/05/22/states-reach-colorado-river-agreement/70243180007/.