States in Colorado River basin pitch new ways to absorb shortages but clash on the approach

SANTA ANA, California — The seven U.S. states that draw water from the Colorado River basin are proposing new ways to determine how to distribute the increasingly scarce resource if the river cannot deliver what it historically promised.

As neighbors, the Upper Basin and Lower Basin states disagree on the approach.

Under a proposal released Wednesday by Arizona, California and Nevada, the water level at Lake Mead — one of the Colorado River’s two largest reservoirs — would no longer determine the extent of water shortages as it does now. The three Lower Basin states also want what they say is a more equitable way to distribute the cuts, which would be a 50-50 split among the basins once a threshold is reached.

“This is not a problem caused by one sector, by one state, by one watershed. It is a basin-wide problem and requires a basin-wide solution,” John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, told reporters on Wednesday.

The Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah submitted their own proposal to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Tuesday. It involves addressing water shortages based on the combined capacity of Lake Mead and Lake Powell upstream, rather than the more extensive reservoir system proposed by the Lower Basin. The shortages would trigger varying levels of cuts for the Lower Basin.

The Upper Basin proposal also shifts the timing of announcements for any reductions from August forecasts for the following January to actual conditions on October 1, the start of the water year. Water users in the lower basin typically order water in mid-October.

The disagreement between the basins is not new. Achieving a consensus among states on water management has never been easy, but it is the ultimate goal.

“The challenges are complex, and given the short time needed for an initial submission, reaching a seven-state consensus on an alternative was not possible at this time,” said Becky Mitchell, Colorado Representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission.

Federal officials say there is no immediate threat that the river that serves more than 40 million people will be unable to supply water or produce power. On Tuesday, federal officials attributed this to agreements reached across the basin to conserve water and strengthen Lake Mead. The Biden administration has spent more than $670 million on 20 conservation projects to date.

The current rules and guidelines for managing the river expire at the end of 2026. The land reclamation will take states’ proposals into consideration when finalizing a plan expected to be released in early 2026.

The Colorado River is in crisis due to a decades-long drought in the West, exacerbated by climate change, rising demand and overuse. The 1,400-mile (2,334-kilometer) river also serves Mexico and more than two dozen Native American tribes, producing hydropower and supplying water to farms that grow most of the country’s winter vegetables.

A centuries-old agreement reserved 7.5 million hectares of water annually for each basin, which was further distributed based on a priority system. Another 1.5 million hectares will be set aside for Mexico, where what remains of the heavily tapped river seeps into the Sea of ​​Cortez. Current inflows average only 14.8 million acre-feet of water, about 15% less than what was distributed on paper.

If the river cannot supply, states are forced to take less. Arizona and Nevada, as junior users in the Lower Basin, have absorbed cuts over the past two years, as has Mexico.

The Upper Basin states say they are at the mercy of Mother Nature and generally do not take advantage of their full apportionment due to poor hydrology, and therefore should not be subject to mandatory cuts.

“Upper Division states and our water users live within the means of what the river has to offer each year,” said Amy Ostdiek of the Colorado Water Conservation Board.

The Lower Basin depends for its water supply on snowmelt and storage at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which serve as barometers of the river’s health.

The Lower Basin states are imploring Reclamation to take a broader view of river management and take into account other system reservoirs that together can hold 58 million acre-feet of water. An acre of land serves roughly two to three American households per year.

They propose that once the system drops below 58% capacity, the Lower Basin will absorb 1.5 million acres of cuts. If the system drops to 38% of capacity, additional cuts should be distributed evenly between the upper and lower basins, they said.

The Lower Basin states want the plan to run until 2060, arguing for the need to provide certainty to users so they can make long-term investments in water-saving infrastructure, Entsminger said. The Upper Basin argues for a much shorter time frame.

In recent years, states in the Lower Basin have butted heads over water cuts, but presented a united front on Wednesday. Officials from those states said they want their counterparts in the Upper Basin to make stronger commitments to share in protecting the river’s health.

“We’re trying to take a compromise position in the Lower Basin and we’d like to see the same thing in the Upper Basin,” said JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California.

___ Peterson reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Suman Naishadham in Washington contributed to this report. The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for reporting on water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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