States Agree To Significant Water Cuts To Save Colorado River

Updated May 23, 2023

• The White House, Arizona, California, and Nevada reached a breakthrough deal to conserve water from the quickly diminishing Colorado River. 
• The three states' water managers agreed to cuts equivalent to 13% of the total water used in the lower Colorado Basin. The federal government will pay around $1.2 billion to cities, irrigation districts, and Native American tribes that temporarily reduce water use. 
• The deal wouldn't be possible if federal funds weren't available to pay farmers to sacrifice some of their land. Additionally, the heavy snowfall seen last winter allowed the deal to come together successfully at the last minute. Kathryn Sorensen, research director at the Kyle Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, said:

"The good snowpack bought us the luxury of bringing forward a deal that wasn't quite as much as the federal government was hoping for but it does buy us time."

• The pact runs until the end of 2026 and marks the most considerable water reduction in modern times. Experts expect deeper cuts to be made after the agreement ends in three years.  

What’s the story?

• As Southwestern states struggle to negotiate water cuts, federal officials may step in and impose reductions in the water supply for 40 million residents. 
• The seven states that rely on water from the Colorado River – Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming — were given until Jan. 31 to come to an agreement on voluntary cuts to their water usage. The federal government requires the states to cut 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of water, which is a third of the river's annual average flow.
• Six of the seven states, excluding California, submitted a proposal earlier this week agreeing to bring their water usage down by 2 million acre-feet. California submitted a separate proposal saying it will preserve 400,000 more acre-feet of water annually. Neither of these proposals constitutes a binding agreement.
• If the administration does have to step in, which seems likely, it will break the century-long custom of the state’s divvying up the river’s water on their own terms. 

Are the cuts necessary?

• Water consumption from the Colorado River must decrease because of the significant decline in water levels from the river’s two significant reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. These satellite images of Lake Mead and Lake Powell show the stark decline in water levels in the last two decades:

Lake Powell captured in 1999 and 2021 by NASA Earth Observatory

Lake Mead captured in 2000 and 2022 by NASA Earth Conservatory

• Reservoir levels are plummeting fast due to the 23 years of megadrought in the region, leaving the states with little time to find other solutions to the impending shortage. Experts fear that if the drought continues, the reservoirs will reach “dead pool status,” where the water levels are so low that they become stagnant. 
• The states have to make critical decisions on where to reduce their water usage and whether to prioritize urban areas or agricultural growth.

What’re they saying? 

• Kevin Moran, director of state and federal water policy advocacy at the Environmental Defense Fund, urges people to realize the state's dire situation.
• Experts say there has never been enough water to meet everyone’s needs of the millions of residents relying on the river. Moran said:

“Think of the Colorado River Basin as a slow-motion disaster. We’re really at a moment of reckoning.”

• Negotiators for the states emphasized how unlikely it is that they will come to an agreement. Unlike the lower basin states, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming all get their water from the stream flow and maintain that they cannot significantly cut that supply. Officials say their water supply already lands at half of their allotment. New Mexico’s negotiator Estevan López said:

“Clearly, the lion’s share of what needs to be done has to be done by the lower basin states."

• The general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, John Entsminger, shared that the state has imposed some of the most extensive water-conservation strategies out of all the states. He continued: 

“We’re using two-thirds of our allocation. You can’t take blood from a stone.”

• California negotiators say the state has senior water rights, meaning it is unlikely to be forced to reduce a considerable amount of its water supply. While the state uses the most water, much of it goes to farmers. 
• Arizona's junior rights force the state to take most of the voluntary cuts. However, a large portion of Arizona’s water goes to Native American tribes. The deputy secretary of the Interior Department said the federal government would consider equity, public health, and safety when reducing water throughout Arizona. Still, Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community maintained that his community has a right to that water.

“That would be a rejection of the trust obligation that the federal government has for our water.”

Should the federal government impose water cuts on the states that rely on the Colorado River?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: iStock/Michael Vi)