Colorado River-dependent States Miss Latest Deadline for Consensus-building

PHOENIX – The seven Western states that rely heavily on the Colorado River have once again missed a critical deadline to finalize a plan to combat the severe drought and water shortages affecting the region.

In a joint statement, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo urged the Upper Basin states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—to make additional concessions. They emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts to address the ongoing crisis.

“The Colorado River is vital to our communities and economies,” the governors stated. “In recent years, our states have made significant water conservation efforts to ensure the long-term stability of the basin’s water resources. We believe it is imperative for all seven basin states to equally share the responsibility of conservation.”

The three states of Arizona, California, and Nevada have proposed to cut their Colorado River water usage by 27%, 10%, and 17%, respectively, showcasing their commitment to tackling the issue.

Meanwhile, Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper, who played a key role in negotiating a river contingency plan in 2019 during his tenure as governor, described the situation in the Colorado Basin as “dire,” citing the state’s diminishing snowpack as a pressing concern.

“If we don’t address this problem together –- head-on and fast –- our communities, farms, and economies will suffer. The best path forward is the one we take together. Litigation won’t solve the problem of this long-term aridification,” Hickenlooper said in a statement.

John Entsminger, the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, also expressed frustration at the lack of progress.

“The actions we have taken over the past two-plus decades are less about raising Lake Mead’s elevation than they are about protecting ourselves if things go from bad to worse,” Entsminger said in a statement.

The states previously let pass a November deadline set by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to devise a strategy to face water shortages after this year, when current guidelines will expire.

Over 40 million people across these states along with Mexico and Native American tribes rely on Colorado River water. The river is crucial to farming as well as water and electricity for millions of homes and businesses. Much of the water starts out as winter mountain snowfall in the Upper Basin, which amasses far more that way than it consumes. Lower Basin states, including agriculture-heavy regions, are bigger consumers.

Major cities including Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles, are also big water consumers. Chronic overuse, drought and rising temperatures linked to climate change have lessened water flows.

How the water is allocated — especially in dry spells — and conserved has been the center of agreements among the states for decades. The original 1922 Colorado River Compact was calculated based on water amounts that doesn’t exist today, especially with the long-term drought.

The current round of negotiations among states have been going on over two years.

If no consensus can be reached, the federal government could step in and devise a plan that leaves parties dissatisfied and could even result in litigation.

Scientists recently found snow cover and snow depth in the West are at their lowest in decades. Some areas have seen their warmest December through early February. Normally, snow cover this time of year spans 460,000 square miles — about the size of California, Utah, Idaho and Montana. But, this year it is only California-sized, about 155,000 square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.