California Could Face Cuts to Colorado River Usage Under Federal Proposal
If it fails to reach an agreement with other states, California could lose protections for current water access
California would have to reduce its use of Colorado River water more than current agreements require under a proposal the Interior Department unveiled Tuesday that could upend a longstanding system of water rights.
The federal agency proposed two methods by which water usage could be reduced as much as 25% next year. The seven states that tap the Colorado have been negotiating with each other since August to make voluntary cuts that could offset any new mandatory ones.
One proposal calls for equal percentage cuts for the three states at the bottom of the river: California, Arizona and Nevada. That would upend current agreements that give water districts in California more senior rights. The cuts would take effect in 2024.
The Bureau of Reclamation, part of the Interior Department, warned in August it would impose large cuts if the states that rely on the river didn’t come up with a satisfactory plan by Jan. 31. Six of the seven states—Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming—in January submitted a possible framework for an agreement that would call for voluntary cuts and conservation totaling between 2 million acre-feet and 4 million acre-feet annually.
California officials said then that the other states’ approach would make the state bear an unfair share of the cuts and submitted their own proposal. It would more closely follow established agreements, calling for other states including Arizona to take larger cuts, along with more voluntary conservation.
The new federal proposal could spur California water officials to reach an agreement with the other states, said Gary Wockner, executive director of Save the Colorado, an environmental group.
“It adds legal pressure to the negotiations,” he said. “The federal government has never stepped in and said, ‘You have to cut water use, and here are the choices.’”
The other Interior Department proposal calls for making cuts based on existing water rights arrangements.
Interior officials said savings of as much as two million acre-feet of water could be needed next year to maintain hydropower operations at the river’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, as well as adequate water deliveries to 40 million people. An acre-foot is roughly the amount of water used by one family for a year.
The action comes after an unusually wet winter in the West. Interior Department Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau said a series of rainstorms over the past several months hasn’t changed the Colorado’s longstanding challenges amid a drier climate.
“Everyone who lives and works in the basin knows one good year will not save us from two decades of drought,” he said, pointing out the rings on Lake Mead, which is 28% full.
Under federal rules issued last year, Arizona has to cut 21% of its Colorado River use while Nevada has to cut 8%. Due to its more senior rights, California hasn’t been ordered to cut anything, although water agencies in the state say they have been conserving a great deal.
Water officials in California’s Imperial County, a large user of the Colorado River for farming, and Arizona issued statements Tuesday saying they hoped the states could reach their own agreement.