Arizona, other Southwest states agree on new Colorado River water plan

The three Lower Basin states – Arizona, Nevada and California – reached an agreement to conserve an additional 3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water by the end of 2026, with half of the savings made by the end of 2024.

In exchange for temporarily using less water, cities, irrigation districts and Native American tribes in the three states will receive federal funding, though officials did not say how much funding individual users in the states would get.

“The Lower Basin Plan is the product of months of tireless work by our water managers to develop an agreement that stabilizes the Colorado River system through 2026,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a separate statement. “Thanks to the partnership of our fellow Basin States and historic investments in drought funding, we now have a path forward to build our reservoirs back up in the near-term. From here, our work must continue to take action and address the long-term issues of climate change and overallocation to ensure we have a sustainable Colorado River for all who rely upon it.”

J.B. Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said in a statement his state would be responsible for 1.6 million acre-feet in cuts. No details were immediately provided on how Arizona and Nevada would split the rest.

“The Lower Basin plan is the product of months of tireless work by our water managers to develop an agreement that stabilizes the Colorado River system through 2026,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a press release. 

“Thanks to the partnership of our fellow Basin States and historic investments in drought funding, we now have a path forward to build our reservoirs back up in the near-term. From here, our work must continue to take action and address the long-term issues of climate change and overallocation to ensure we have a sustainable Colorado River for all who rely upon it.”

The Department of the Interior said it will formally advance the process for developing new operating guidelines early next month. The current guidelines were implemented in 2007 and were set to run through 2026. A new plan was necessary sooner because long-term drought put the Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs at risk of falling below levels needed to sustain water deliveries and power production.

“There are 40 million people, seven states and 30 Tribal Nations who rely on the Colorado River Basin for basic services such as drinking water and electricity,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a press release.

“Today’s announcement is a testament to the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to working with states, Tribes and communities throughout the West to find consensus solutions in the face of climate change and sustained drought.”

The Colorado River has been in crisis thanks to a multidecade drought in the West intensified by climate change, rising demand and overuse. Those pressures have sent water levels at key reservoirs along the river to unprecedented lows, though they have rebounded somewhat thanks to heavy precipitation and deep snowpack this winter.

In recent years, the river’s woes have forced the federal government to cut some water allocations, and to offer up billions of dollars to pay farmers and cities to pay farmers, cities and others to cut back.

In April, the Bureau of Reclamation released a plan that considered two ways to force cuts in the Colorado River supply for Arizona, Nevada and California, which make up the river’s Lower Basin.

One contemplated using an decades-old water priority system to reduce usage that would have benefitted California and some Native American tribes with senior water rights. The other would have been a percentage cut across the board to spare Arizona and Nevada – states with lower-priority rights – some pain.

The Interior Department on Monday said it would pull back that proposal so that it could analyze the broader plan submitted by Western states and reissue it later this year.