The White House on Tuesday released new proposals to dramatically cut the amount of water the state can withdraw from the Colorado River, a last-ditch effort to protect the dry resource used by 40 million Americans.
The Department of the Interior released an environmental review Friday that houses three options for the Colorado River after seven states and tribes that depend on the waters failed to reach an agreement to determine how the cuts will fall.
One option would be to split the cuts based on seniority of water rights, meaning California – the oldest user of the river – would see minimal changes while Arizona and Nevada would face sharp restrictions. A second plan will be evenly distributed cuts across Arizona, Nevada and California, ignoring the legal seniority at the expense of the last agriculture that supplies produce to the whole state.
The third option, doing nothing, will ultimately lead to disaster for all.
The federal government is only able to impose water restrictions in the states that draw reserves released from Lake Mead and Lake Powell, so that the draft analysis focuses on the downstream states of Arizona, California and Nevada. Four other states and other tribal governments also depend on the Colorado River basin.
The Biden administration has not issued a public stance on the choice. It is expected to make a decision on the potential cuts in August, although Tommy Beaudreau, the deputy secretary of the Interior Department, told The New York Times that the administration prefers that states come up with a plan among themselves.
The plan represents a serious and significant threat to the western United States. Water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell have decreased over the past 23 years from drought, resulting in reduced Colorado River flows. Officials worry that the water could become too low to turn the turbines on the lake that generate electricity, or drop so low that they cannot reach the intake valves that flow into the river.
When that happens, an event called a “dead pool,” the water won’t flow down to the southern state and the river will stop.
The federal government asked states to reduce water use and offered billions of dollars in incentives to farmers and cities, but states missed a year-end deadline to submit proposals. Six of the states that depend on the Colorado River reached an agreement to cut the main in January, but California rejected the plan, prompting the latest intervention.
A rainy season full of rain and snow that brought parts of California out of drought will help water levels in the short term and may limit the amount of cuts needed, but experts warn the weather is just a balm for a deeper wound that will require more . more to heal.
The stakes for the region are high. About 40 million Americans depend on the Colorado River basin for drinking water and its supply irrigates about 5.5 million acres, mostly in California. Dams on Lake Mead and Lake Powell create electricity that powers millions of homes.
“In our minds, the appropriate presentation is based on the authority of the secretary to provide for human health and safety, manage the system in emergency situations, and provide for beneficial use,” Beaudreau told The Washington Post. “It’s the secretary’s responsibility, and he has the authority, to protect the system.”