Under a new federal framework for operating the Colorado River in 2027-2028, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming don’t have to make water cuts. Arizona, California and Nevada, on the other hand, will see pretty steep ones.
Agreements that delegate the usage of the water in that river expire in 2026, and negotiations have been ongoing between the seven states involved. Around 40 million people rely on the Colorado River. It fuels resources across seven U.S. states, 30 tribes and two Mexican states, and powers two reservoirs: Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Both lakes hit record low water levels in August.
Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™
Point phone camera here
“We are grateful for the Seven Basin States, the thirty Basin Tribes, Mexico and many other basin stakeholders who have provided the feedback and voluntary arrangements necessary for the development of the 2027-2028 Operating Guidelines,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement.
Per the plan, Arizona will see water cuts of 760,000 acre-feet; California has to cut 440,000 acre-feet; and Nevada gets 50,000 acre-feet cuts. That’s a collective 1.25 million acre-feet for the three states considered in the “Lower Basin.”
The “Upper Basin” states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — don’t have any set cuts in the plan.
Andrea Travnicek, the Interior Department’s assistant secretary of water and science, said through the plan, Basin stakeholders can “respond to the prolonged drought by incorporating flexible tools and voluntary actions while leaving room for consensus agreements.”
“The Department and Reclamation will continue to work with all Basin stakeholders to identify areas to maximize efforts throughout the Basin to modernize infrastructure, develop conservation programs, and identify innovative approaches to deliver water under changing conditions,” Travnicek said.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, in a statement, said she was glad to see the federal government is implementing the Lower Basin’s proposal for water allocation.
“We’ve protected Arizona from disastrous and unacceptable forced federal water cuts,” she said. “Together, we’ve proven that the Lower Basin will work in meaningful ways to protect the Colorado River system we all rely on. I applaud Nevada and California for joining us in stepping up to the plate.”
Still, she added in the statement, “the work is not over.”
“Arizona’s water is for Arizonans, and we need to fight to keep it that way,” she said. “As long as I’m governor, Arizona will continue defending our right to our water by every legal means necessary and stand up to Upper Basin states who refuse to cut a drop of water in protection of the River.”
Arizona Chamber President and CEO Danny Seiden said the framework appears to “provide a workable path forward over the next two years and avoids some of the most damaging scenarios our state was facing.”
Like Hobbs, he said he wants to see “a long-term agreement that requires every Basin state to share in the responsibility.”
Colorado River Commissioner for California JB Hamby agreed, saying “three states cannot carry the responsibility of all seven.”
California is open to discussing greater flexibility for the Upper Basin, Hamby said, adding that this must also be matched by Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
“The reality is simple: there is less water in the Colorado River, and the reductions ahead may be greater than anything we have faced before,” he said. “A durable agreement must spread that responsibility fairly across the basin, with all seven states and both countries doing their part.”
He characterized the plan as a “bridge, not a permanent solution.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the Interior Department’s framework a necessary step, though said it only provides “short-term stability.”
“In the coming months, each state across the basin must step up to conserve water and continue to work together across the basin to achieve a durable long-term approach that positions our region for future prosperity,” Newsom said. “Any long-term solution must share responsibility fairly across all seven states in recognition of the new reality of the Colorado River.”
In Nevada, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat, expressed concerns that there’s no long-term plan for the Colorado River. She urged looking at alternatives like desalination, the use of alternative water supplies in Southern California and requiring Upper Basin states to curtail their use of river water for agricultural purposes.
“In the meantime, I have asked House leadership to include measures in a supplemental appropriations package that would mitigate the effects of extreme drought on the Colorado River,” she said. “We must adapt to the reality that the river won’t rise to previous levels because of climate change and prolonged drought.”
The Colorado River has been suffering from drought for decades, an issue exacerbated this year by historically low snowpack and a warm spring season.
“This problem in the Colorado River is unique globally and it represents a human-caused climate change shift in how we operate,” Brad Udall, a senior water and climate research scientist at the Colorado Water Center, previously told Straight Arrow.
Added Udall: “The reality here is we have less water. We can’t kick the can down the road anymore.”
“We’ve spent down this bank account as shown by the reservoir levels over the last 27 years, and we’re close to being broke here,” Udall said.
Because of the lowering water levels, Mead and Powell are in danger of hitting dead pool. That’s when water can’t flow out of the reservoirs and generate hydroelectric power.
Powell loses its capacity to generate hydropower at 3,490 feet, while Mead hits it first milestone for hydropower cuts at 1,035 feet.
As of Sunday morning, Lake Mead was at 1,039.32 feet above sea level. Lake Powell was at 3,518.96 feet.
Round out your reading
- All your questions about napping, answered.
- Trump’s $5,000 promise echoes past payouts that never materialized.
- Inside the effort to make data centers pay their share of electricity costs.
- Why did the Feds seize the ’largest Martian meteorite on Earth’?
- Photos and video show exactly where and when Trump visited Ground Zero after 9/11.
