Bureau of Reclamation proposes Colorado River cuts to three states

Interior Department’s 10-year plan spares Upper Basin states for now

The Bureau of Reclamation’s proposal, outlined in a press release from the Department of the Interior, would impose cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet (3.7 billion kiloliters) annually on the three Lower Basin states — California, Arizona and Nevada — subject to hydrological conditions. That volume represents up to 40% of their combined allocation, the department said.

Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming, the four Upper Basin states, would not face mandatory reductions under the plan.

The department said in its press release that the 10-year plan calls for water management decisions to be made every two years and allows annual releases from Lake Powell, the river’s second-largest reservoir, of between 5 million and 12 million acre-feet.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement: “This framework provides the flexibility to respond to changing hydrologic conditions while preserving the opportunity for the Basin States to continue working toward durable, consensus-based solutions.”

The federal government is expected to issue a record of decision in the coming week detailing short-term operations under the plan. Those operations are likely to closely follow a proposal the Lower Basin states submitted earlier this year that would cut 3.2 million acre-feet from their combined total over 2027 and 2028, according to the Guardian.

A century-old compact that initially divided up the river gave rights to more water than there is in the system, the Guardian reported, and the gap has widened as the river’s flow has declined. The Guardian reported that flows in the Colorado are down 20% over the last century and that precipitation has shrunk by about 7%.

The Guardian reported that snowmelt that feeds the river is evaporating more quickly and that drier soils and plants are absorbing more water. The combined levels of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two largest reservoirs on the river, have already reached record lows, the Guardian reported, and it is exceedingly unlikely that the system will recover even after a wet winter.

The river and its tributaries supply roughly 40 million people in seven US states, two countries and dozens of tribes, the Guardian reported. The Guardian also reported that the river irrigates 5.5 million acres of farmland and fuels an estimated $1.4 trillion in economic activity. Fourteen native fish species are endangered or threatened, and the once-lush wetlands in Mexico’s river delta have been dry for decades, according to the Guardian.