Friday, August 26, 2022
CapitalPress.com 7
Crisis looms without big cuts to over-tapped Colorado River
on the sidelines,” Colorado
River Indian Tribes Chair-
woman Amelia Flores said.
“We won’t let this river die.”
Upper basin states —
Utah, Colorado, New Mex-
ico and Wyoming — argue
that they shouldn’t face cuts
because they historically
haven’t used all the water
they were promised a cen-
tury ago.
They want to protect their
share in anticipation of pop-
ulation growth and haven’t
pursued policies that save
water as much as states like
Arizona and Nevada.
Dire consequences could result if states,
cities and farms across the American West
cannot agree on how to cut the amount of
water they draw from the Colorado River
By SAM METZ
and KATHLEEN RONAYNE
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY —
Hydroelectric turbines may
stop turning. Las Vegas
and Phoenix may be forced
to restrict water usage or
growth. Farmers might
cease growing some crops,
leaving fields of lettuce and
melons to turn to dust.
Those are a few of the
dire consequences that could
result if states, cities and
farms across the American
West cannot agree on how
to cut the amount of water
they draw from the Colo-
rado River.
Yet for years, seven states
that depend on the river have
allowed more water to be
taken from it than nature can
replenish. Despite widespread
recognition of the crisis, the
states missed a deadline this
week to propose major cuts
that the federal government
has said are necessary.
And again, the govern-
ment failed to force harsh
decisions and stopped short
of imposing the cuts on
its own, despite previous
threats to do so.
Any unilateral action
from federal officials would
likely move conversations
from negotiating tables to
courtrooms and delay action
even longer.
The river, which cascades
from the Rockies down to
the deserts of the South-
west, quenches the thirst of
40 million people in the U.S.
and Mexico and sustains a
$15 billion-a-year agricul-
tural industry.
But for a century, agree-
ments governing how it’s
shared have been based on
faulty assumptions about
how much water is avail-
able. With climate change
making the region hotter
and drier, that discrepancy
is becoming impossible to
ignore.
Reservoirs shrink
Lake Powell and Lake
Mead, the two largest res-
ervoirs that hold Colorado
River water, have fallen
to dangerously low levels
faster than anyone expected.
The decline threatens to dis-
rupt hydroelectric power
production and water sent to
cities and farms.
Though everyone agrees
the stakes are high, states
and the U.S. government
have struggled to reach a
consensus on what to do.
People have “been hop-
ing to stave off this day,”
said Felicia Marcus, a for-
mer top water official in
California, which holds the
largest right to the river’s
water. “But now I think we
can’t expect Mother Nature
to bail us out next year. The
time for some of these really
hard decisions is now.”
The river is also tapped
by Arizona, Colorado,
Nevada, New Mexico, Utah,
Wyoming, Mexico and
some tribes.
For years, officials have
issued warnings about the
state of the river, but also
reassured people that the
system won’t crash. That
two-part message was front
and center this week, when
the states failed to meet a
deadline set by the Bureau
of Reclamation for them to
propose 15% to 30% cuts to
their water use.
As the deadline passed
Aug. 16, the potentially dra-
matic moment amounted to
a shrug. Officials said they
still have faith the states will
reach a deal if given more
time.
Visiting California the
Erroneous belief
John Locher/Associated Press File
In this 2015 photo, water intake pipes that were once underwater sit above the water
line along Lake Mead near Boulder City, Nev.
next day, Reclamation Com-
missioner Camille Touton
repeatedly dodged questions
about what might happen
next. She’s given no specif-
ics about what the bureau’s
more aggressive actions
might look like, or when
they might happen.
The federal government,
she said, “is ready to move
forward on our own.” But
officials “will continue to
talk to everybody about
what the process is.”
Managers dissatisfied
Not everyone is satisfied
with that approach.
“I’m asking them to at
least lay out very clearly
how that threat will be
imposed,” Southern Nevada
Water Authority General
Manager John Entsminger
said.
Entsminger and his coun-
terparts in Arizona, Utah and
California, as well as local
officials in and around Phoe-
nix, also repeated what has
become a common refrain:
They said they were gravely
concerned about the river’s
future, yet wanted to reas-
sure their water users that
the river won’t stop flowing
imminently.
“This is not a situation
where people should be con-
cerned about, you know,
water running out in days or
weeks or even months. But
it’s very clear that this entire
river system is experiencing
something that’s never hap-
pened before,” said Wade
Crowfoot, California’s natu-
ral resources secretary.
Hard decisions
The cuts would force
hard decisions about who
has to live with less. Water
bills could rise as states tap
other sources and adopt
technology such as waste-
water recycling to make up
the difference.
In some places, officials
have voluntarily imple-
mented strict conservation
measures, including limit-
ing lawn watering and pay-
ing farmers not to plant
fields, even banning new
water hookups. The cli-
mate legislation signed by
President Joe Biden pro-
vides $4 billion that could
be used to pay Colorado
River users to cut back,
but it’s not clear how that
would work.
The river’s shrinkage has
inflamed tensions between
Rocky Mountain states and
their downstream neighbors
over who should shoulder
the burden. It also pits grow-
ing cities against agricul-
tural regions.
Farmers impacted
In Pinal County, Ariz.,
Kelly Anderson grows spe-
cialty crops for the flower
industry and leases land to
alfalfa farmers whose crops
feed cattle at nearby dairy
farms. He expects about half
of the area to go unplanted
next year, after farmers in the
region lose all access to the
river.
Though farmers use most
of the water, they have less
wiggle room to conserve
than cities, which can more
easily recycle water or tap
other sources. The river is a
lifeblood in places like Cal-
ifornia’s Imperial Valley,
which grows vegetables like
broccoli, onions and carrots.
Water shortages could send
ripple effects throughout the
food system.
States aren’t the only ones
at the table. Native American
tribes hold some of the old-
est water rights and occupy
a unique position in nego-
tiations because the federal
government is required to
protect their interests.
The Colorado River
Indian Tribes along the Ari-
zona-California border have
contributed water to boost
Lake Mead in the past. They
could be called on again.
“Our senior rights do not
mean we can or should sit
Zach Frankel, executive
director of the Utah Rivers
Council, said many in the
Rockies cling to an errone-
ous belief that their water
rights are safe, cuts will con-
tinue to hit their downstream
neighbors and one wet win-
ter could reverse the river’s
decline.
“If we don’t agree about
what the crisis is, we’re not
going to have the impetus to
come up with a solution,” he
said.
Arizona, Nevada and Cal-
ifornia say they’re willing to
put water or money on the
table, but so far that hasn’t
been enough to yield an
agreement.
A growing chorus of vet-
eran officials and environ-
mental advocates say both
the states and the federal gov-
ernment are sending mud-
dled messages by stressing
the gravity of the situation yet
delaying meaningful action.
James Eklund, an attorney
and former director of the
Upper Colorado River Com-
mission, said the shrinking
reservoirs present an oppor-
tunity to rethink how to man-
age the river and incentivize
conservation — if only offi-
cials will take it.
Bureaucrats, he said, con-
tinue to think they can post-
pone changes. The prob-
lem is “that doesn’t really
work here because no action
means we’re driving toward
a cliff.”