02 Mar An unfair plan to cut California’s use of Colorado River water
(Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California)
The seven states that rely on the Colorado River must urgently address how to keep enough water in two severely depleted reservoirs to provide water and power to 40 million people in the southwestern U.S. Emergency steps must be taken in the interim to address the rapidly vanishing Colorado River water, exacerbated by higher temperatures caused by global industrialization.
The deadline to renegotiate the century-old agreement and accompanying laws that allocate the supply is nearly four years away. However, delays in agreeing on a plan leave the decision to federal regulators. Each state must agree to take far less water than their agreements allow, but the question remains: which state should cut the most? The six upriver states proposed that the amount of water that evaporates in the Lower Basin before it reaches its destination be included in the calculation, thereby suggesting that California should bear the brunt of the evaporation loss. This argument caught California and the Metropolitan Water District flat-footed. However, federal regulators should not be swayed, as evaporation was not part of the original formula when all seven states entered into the Colorado River Compact in 1922.
All seven states need a constructive approach that recognizes the necessity of broad cuts all around, creative management of existing supplies, and smart strategies, such as water recycling and voluntary banking of water supply. The Law of the River is complex, and the peril of shrinking water supplies is serious. Painful decisions must be made between now and 2026, and the states need a fair and workable survival strategy soon.
SUMMARIZED FROM AN L.A. TIMES ARTICLE BY ChatGPT
For full story click here: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-02-26/editorial-reckoning-comes-for-colorado-river-users