With the nation’s two largest reservoirs continuing to decline, federal officials announced plans Friday to revise their current rules for dealing with Colorado River shortages and pursue a new agreement to achieve larger reductions in water use throughout the Southwest.
The U.S. government warned on Friday that it may impose water supply cuts on California, Arizona and Nevada to protect the Colorado River and its two main reservoirs from overuse, drought and climate change.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation unveiled three possible action plans: one to impose cutbacks, another to allow western states to work out a reduction plan on their own, or a third and least likely option of taking no action.
Bodies of water all over North America are drying up as a result of drought and a decrease in precipitation, experts told ABC News.
Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that the 22-year megadrought affecting the West would not only intensify but also move eastward.
Two of the biggest reservoirs in the Colorado River Basin, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have lost 50% of capacity within the past five years.
And, it’s only getting worse.
Now, the Interior Department is proposing more solutions to help the dwindling river.
Collaboration among all water users is key to developing solutions for the Colorado River Basin, which is in the midst of a 22-year megadrought. That was one of the common themes during a webinar Thursday, in which water managers and other officials discussed ways to slow or stabilize the rate of decline of the major source of water for seven states and Mexico.
Almost two months ago, the seven Colorado River Basin states blew past a federal deadline to negotiate significant cuts to their water usage.
There’s finally some concrete action. Water managers in California, which uses more Colorado River water than any other state, have agreed to reduce their usage by one-tenth in 2023.
Collaboration among all water users is key to developing solutions for the Colorado River Basin, which is in the midst of a 22-year megadrought. That was one of the common themes during a webinar Thursday, in which water managers and other officials discussed ways to slow or stabilize the rate of decline of the major source of water for seven states and Mexico.
“A Collaborative Approach to Colorado River Management,” was part of the Southern California Water Coalition‘s “What Matters” webinar series. The San Diego County Water Authority, Imperial Irrigation District, Black & Veatch, and Richard Brady & Associates sponsored the webinar.
Webinar participants:
A picture's worth a thousand words… pic.twitter.com/seesz9fYOe
— SoCal Water Coalition (@SoCalWaterComm) October 6, 2022
During the 90-minute discussion, speakers said that drought and climate change impacts on the Colorado River Basin have created “challenging times” and that “unprecedented times require unprecendented management” solutions. Solutions mentioned included sustainable conservation, additional storage, a reduction in demand, and inclusion of all users to ensure the long-term health of the river system.
Sandy Kerl, General Manager @sdcwa, highlights that 2/3's of their supply comes from CO River and her top 3 priorities are
1) Balance impact on users while protecting environment (& Salton Sea)
2) Uphold law of the river and priority rights/QSA
3) Expand Lake Mead surplus program— SoCal Water Coalition (@SoCalWaterComm) October 6, 2022
The Water Authority’s supply portfolio includes high-priority, conserved Colorado River supplies negotiated through the landmark 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement, or QSA. The conserved supplies are the cornerstone of the San Diego region’s long-term water supply diversification strategy.
Chris Harris, Executive Director, Colorado River Board of California, stresses that we need to stop referring to basin conditions as a "drought" – it's aridification. @adelh2o General Manager with @mwdh2o agrees – "We have to adapt to a changing climate."
— SoCal Water Coalition (@SoCalWaterComm) October 6, 2022
The webinar came a day after California water agencies that use Colorado River water supplies, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, voluntarily offering to reduce their use of water from the river starting in 2023:
“Given dire drought conditions across the region and dangerously low reservoir levels, we firmly believe that all water users within the Basin must take immediate voluntary actions to stabilize water supplies in the Basin’s major reservoirs.
“California water agencies that utilize Colorado River water supplies propose to conserve up to an additional 400,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead each year, beginning in 2023 and running through 2026. This water, which would otherwise be used by California’s communities and farms, will meaningfully contribute to stabilizing the Colorado River reservoir system. While a broad multi-state agreement to conserve water across the Basin has not been reached, the California agencies propose to take voluntary action now to conserve water in coming months.”
Graphic shared October 6, 2022, during the Southern California Water Coalition webinar “A Collaborative Approach to Colorado River Management.”
(Editor’s note: The October 5 webinar was recorded and, when posted, can be viewed/heard here: socalwater.org/podcasts/).
With the Colorado River in crisis and reservoir levels continuing to decline, California water agencies that depend on the river are planning to significantly reduce their use of water from the river starting next year. As a result, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California said they plan to endorse mandatory conservation measures next year to begin rationing water for cities and local agencies that supply 19 million people across six counties.
Lake Mead is America’s largest reservoir, supplying water for 25 million people across the southwest. It’s also drying up — a kind of poster child for the ongoing drought in the West. But upstream, a much larger but lesser known source of stored water is also disappearing: mountain snow.
This is how climate change is throwing one of the United States’ most critical sources of water out of whack.
As climate change tightens its grip on the Colorado River basin, the states that use its water are struggling to agree on terms that will reduce their demand. Now, the federal government is stepping in with a plan to use billions of dollars to incentivize conservation.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
