Arizona Archives

Will Colorado River Shortages Limit Water Use? Arizona Cities Seek ‘Culture Change’ First

May 5, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AZ Centralby Brandon Loomis

Arizona’s cities should consider imposing unprecedented restrictions on outdoor water use if the Colorado River’s flow continues to decline as expected this year, the state’s water resources director says.

Scottsdale and Tucson already have declared themselves to be in the first stage of their respective drought plans, and are reducing government water uses. Phoenix plans to take payments from the state in lieu of some of its Colorado River deliveries next year, part of the state’s latest drought mitigation effort.

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Hotter Summers, Bigger Fires, Less Water: How Arizona Is Adapting to New Climate Norms

February 28, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AZ Centralby Brandon Loomis

Climate scientists working on the latest international assessment of rising threats to society say it’s imperative that communities adapt now.

Their warning touches on several fields that Arizona and its neighbors in the Southwest are now attempting to tackle, from drought mitigation and wildfire management to the dangers of urban heat.

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Dam Providing Power to Millions Nears Critically Low Water Level

January 13, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Roll Callby Benjamin J. Hulac

A federal dam in Arizona that provides electricity to millions of Americans is at risk this year of running out of the minimum level of water required to generate that power.

Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963 and brought online two years later, is at 27 percent capacity, the lowest since it was filled, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday.

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As the Colorado River Shrinks, Can New Technology Save Water on Farms? The Answer Is Complicated

January 12, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Arizona Public Mediaby Alex Hager

On a warm November day in Yuma, Arizona, the desert sun is beating down on a sea of low, green fields. Here, near the banks of the Colorado River, Matt McGuire is surveying an expanse of vegetables that sprawls into the desert landscape.

“You find it on the grocery shelf and it’s a leafy green,” he said, “it probably came from here. Because about 80-85% of the vegetables in the wintertime come from this area.”

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Phoenix Among Those Voluntarily Losing Colorado River Water

January 10, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AP Newsby Felicia Fonseca

The city of Phoenix this week outlined how it will voluntarily contribute water to a regional plan to shore up the country’s largest reservoir that delivers Colorado River water to three states and Mexico.

The river cannot provide seven Western states the water they were promised a century ago because of less snow, warmer temperatures and water lost to evaporation. Water managers repeatedly have had to pivot to develop plans to sustain it for the long-term.

Phoenix, the nation’s fifth-largest city, is among entities in the river’s lower basin that are part of the “500+ Plan” meant to delay further mandatory shortages. All pieces of the plan haven’t been finalized, but farmers and Native American tribes are expected to play a big role.

The Colorado River serves more than 40 million people in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Wyoming, Utah and Mexico. Lake Mead and Lake Powell store the water and are used to gauge the river’s health.

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More Water Cuts AZ, NV, CA Try to Keep Lake Mead Levels Up

January 5, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /ABC 15 Arizonaby Courtney Holmes

Arizona, California, and Nevada have agreed to further reduce their usage of Colorado River water over the next two years as the states figure out ways to prevent critically low water levels in Lake Mead.

The river accounts for 40% of Arizona’s water supply.

The states were already preparing for mandatory water cuts in 2022 resulting from the Tier 1 shortage federal declaration.

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Climate Change Makes Projecting Lake Mead and Colorado River Levels Tricky

December 30, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Spectrum News 1by Sarah Pilla

There’s a white line known as the bathtub ring around Lake Mead. It’s a constant reminder for Boating Lake Mead’s Director of Operations, Bruce Nelson. The lake is at a historically low 1,067-feet above sea level, affecting boat launch ramps and customers.

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State, Federal Agencies Announce $200M Investment in Lake Mead

December 15, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

State water agencies in Arizona, California and Nevada announced a $200 million investment in Colorado River conservation projects on Wednesday, in a last-ditch effort to keep the basin’s biggest reservoir from dwindling to dangerously low levels.

The cross-border collaboration, which also includes the Department of the Interior, will aim to add 500,000 acre-feet of additional water to Lake Mead — the Colorado River’s largest reservoir — in 2022 and 2023, by facilitating initiatives that promote water conservation in the Lower Colorado River Basin, according to the partners.

That additional water, which is enough to provide for 1.5 million households each year, would boost the reservoir’s level by 16 feet, a news release from the agencies said.

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States to Sign Voluntary Cutbacks of Colorado River Water

December 15, 2021/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AP Newsby Brittany Peterson

To help stave off another round of mandatory cutbacks, water leaders for Arizona, Nevada and California are preparing to sign an agreement that would voluntarily reduce Colorado River water to the lower basin states by 500,000 acre-feet — enough to supply about 750,000 households for a year — for both 2022 and 2023.

The agreement, known as the “500+ Plan”, would require millions of dollars from each state over two years — $60 million from Arizona, $20 million from Nevada and $20 million from California with federal matching dollars — to fund payments for water use reduction and efficiency projects that result in supply savings throughout the lower basin.

The signing is expected to take place Wednesday at the Colorado River Water Users Association annual meeting in Las Vegas, amid urgency to negotiate new rules for managing the depleted river beyond 2026 when the 2007 interim guidelines expire.

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Major Extra Cuts to Be Made in Arizona Deliveries of Colorado River Water Next Year

December 3, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Tuscon.comby Tony Davis

The Central Arizona Project’s governing board took the first steps Thursday toward approving Arizona’s share of a plan to save a half-million acre-feet a year of Colorado River water in order to prop up ailing Lake Mead.

The plan, adopted unanimously by the board, calls for Arizona users of the river water — mostly those on CAP supplies — to shoulder more than 40% of that total, or 223,000 acre-feet in 2022. The cuts are all supposed to be voluntary and temporary, and to be compensated by either state or federal money, totalling $100 million a year for the entire conservation program.

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