Biden administration explores options for Colorado river water crisis

Last week, the Biden administration previewed a set of options for fixing the Colorado River’s supply-and-demand problem.

Sarah Porter, Director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the issue.

The Colorado River is the West’s largest single water source. Porter explained that the Biden administration has said since day one that it was looking to protect the water source and divide its resources between the seven Western states that draw from it.

“We need to figure out a way to take less water out of the system,” Porter explained, “…so we are essentially in protracted negotiations on how to share the pain of less [Colorado River] water.”

The ideas under consideration range from leaving the decisions strictly in the hands of federal officials to blending state and tribal proposals for sharing cuts. Other ideas blend elements from each of those.

“Last week, when the bureau said ‘here are the five different ways of operating the system that we are going to model,'” Porter said, “…that may kickstart negotiations because it really does inform people what the feds are looking at doing.”

According to Porter, these options provided a rough outline for proposals that it will hand off to the incoming Trump administration to finish.

“Chances are the work that the Biden administration has put in place in terms of the alternatives to be modeled will continue,” Porter said.

Porter explained that the biggest difference under the new Trump administration will likely be a new Commissioner of Reclamation.

“The difference that a Commissioner makes typically is, the ability to be taken seriously, to bang heads together, to get people in a room and make them talk, to issue ultimata,” Porter said. “…people are interested in who the new Commissioner will be.”

The Colorado River is responsible for the drinking water of tens of millions of people in the West and also irrigates crops and powers homes.