Arizona, California and Nevada give feds plan to save 3M acre-feet of Colorado River water

The Interior Department on Monday said it would review a plan submitted by Arizona, California and Nevada to conserve 3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water over the next three years.

The plan is the states’ answer to a federal call for major reductions in use to keep water stored in Lake Mead and Lake Powell from declining to disastrous levels. The states are seeking federal compensation for users who cut back. On average, each year they would save a little more than a third of what Arizona takes from the river in a normal year.

The proposal is essentially an emergency measure to keep up with a two-decade drought that plunged the two reservoirs to about a quarter of capacity last year, before runoff from this past wet winter that is expected to raise them to about one-third full. The average amount of water conservation envisioned each year — 1 million acre-feet — would be enough to supply some 3 million households if it went solely to homes, though most Colorado River water is applied on farms.

All of the cuts would be voluntary, and most will be compensated with federal funds, according to Arizona officials. Arizona has taken the bulk of current cuts — 592,000 acre-feet, or 21% of its usual delivery — based on shortage-sharing guidelines that Interior adopted in 2007 and additional emergency deals. Though it's as yet unclear precisely how much of the reductions will come from each state, much of the newly proposed cuts could come from California, in recognition of its ability to pull more from its in-state supplies and less from the Colorado after an unusually wet winter.

The offering is substantially less than what the Interior Department and its Bureau of Reclamation had sought over the next three years. In April, federal officials released a draft study of ideas for securing twice as much savings per year. But on Monday, Interior said it would delay its May 30 deadline for comment on that study to review the states’ plan. State officials said they expect Interior will publish a plan to reset the environmental study for completion this fall, after review of the states' proposal.

Advocacy group's warning: Colorado River in the Grand Canyon is the most 'endangered river'

“Today’s announcement is a testament to the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to working with states, Tribes and communities throughout the West to find consensus solutions in the face of climate change and sustained drought,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.

The states' proposal reflects improved conditions on the river since federal officials first sought bigger cuts last year, said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. In fact, he expects that if Interior accepts the plan, the big snowpack now melting in the Rockies will help raise Lake Mead's storage over three years, rather than just stabilizing it.

Still, he acknowledged, tough questions about how to split future, potentially bigger cuts among the states remain. The states and feds will soon start longer-term negotiations for adopting new shortage-sharing guidelines to impose when the 2007 guidelines expire in 2026. Trends in the region's hydrology and temperatures portend tougher choices ahead. But the improved short-term outlook has helped ease pressure and improve working relations across state boundaries, Buschatzke said.

"Have no illusions," Buschatzke said. "Tough issues are still going to be tough (in 2026)." Still, he said, the wet weather last winter has put the states in a "safer place" to conduct negotiations.

“This is a short-term deal to build stability and to prepare us for 2026,” Central Arizona Project General Manager Brenda Burman added. "We know we are going to have to learn to live with a smaller river.”

Because this proposal reflects a consensus among the states, it should be more equitable than previous cuts to Arizona's supply, Burman said. "This is all of us working together."

Regional drought: Snowy, wet winter brings drought reprieve, but it won't solve Colorado River water woes

Buschatzke said his discussions with water officials in California have improved along with the flow of water from the mountains. Additionally, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs earlier this year reached out to California Gov. Gavin Newsom seeking to collaborate on the issue, policy adviser Patrick Adams said Monday.

Hobbs released a statement praising the three states' water managers for "months of tireless work."

“From here, our work must continue to take action and address the long-term issues of climate change and overallocation to ensure we have a sustainable Colorado River for all who rely upon it.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton released a statement encouraging Interior to accept the states' plan, but also urging it to use more of the congressionally approved funds for conservation measures that will last longer than temporary farm fallowing.

"While this agreement is welcome, it uses drought dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act to quite literally buy time," said Stanton, D-Ariz. "It’s imperative that Interior not let a moment go to waste in deploying the remainder of funds under the Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to invest in long-term conservation efforts.”

Sen. Mark Kelly also praised the consensus proposal among the states.

“The best solution for tackling the water shortage along the Colorado River has always been for states to come together to protect the river that we all depend on,” Kelly said in a statement.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona, likewise said the state plan moves the basin in the right direction, and that collaboration is the key. "As I've long said, the Colorado River is all of ours — we thrive or fail together, and failure is not an option."

One environmental group that tracks the river's management, the Great Basin Water Network, called the states' proposal "a stopgap measure to quell hostilities among the states" temporarily.

"The math of this deal appears to be an attempt by the Lower Basin to address the structural deficit and other accounting shortcomings for the near-term," said Kyle Roerink, the group's executive director. "The long-term equation –– with climate change devastating river hydrology at every turn –– is much more difficult to solve."

Further worsening the long-term outlook, he said, are plans among the Upper Basin states upstream of Arizona to develop more uses for river water.

Long-term, the states and federal water managers need to "right-size" their water demand and reach an agreement with demand management tools that don't cost hundreds of dollars an acre-foot, according to Dave White, director of Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation.

"This is a step in the right direction but a temporary solution," White said.

Interior officials said the states’ plan includes 2.3 million acre-feet of savings that would be compensated through federal funds dedicated to the river under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Those laws collectively directed billions of dollars to water projects, including both compensated farm fallowing and long-term efficiency upgrades.

Some of that federal compensation is already in the works, such as up to 125,000 acre-feet a year of largely agricultural water that central Arizona's Gila River Indian Community has agreed to turn back to Lake Mead over three years for $400 per acre-foot. The Central Arizona Project said it also expects to save up to 140,000 acre-feet through agreements with cities it serves.

Searching for answers: As the Colorado River is stretched thin by drought, can the 100-year-old rules that divide it still work?

Brandon Loomis covers environmental and climate issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach him at brandon.loomis@arizonarepublic.com or follow on Twitter @brandonloomis.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona, Colorado River states submit plan to conserve water