Arizona is one of three states that submitted a proposal to federal officials to increase conservation over the next two years. This is intended to help prevent any further decline in the water supply from the Colorado River.
The goal for this proposal is to buy more time to plan out a longer-term deal that incorporates all seven states. This proposal would add up to a million acre-feet a year in water-use reductions, on top of the 1.5 million acre-feet they had already proposed cutting among themselves and Mexico.
Sarah Porter, Director of Kyl Center for Water Policy, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the situation.
“What this lower basin proposal is really looking at is how to keep the system from crashing for a short term, and I think to some degree they’re hoping to buy time to continue to negotiate the upper basin,” Porter said.
The proposal, according to Porter, is looking to have the water remain in Lake Mead to keep the system functional and to conserve the amount that different cities are using.
Moreover, Porter also shared how Arizona would benefit from this new proposal.
“If there were cuts that were just based on who gets cut first, the Phoenix to Tucson area’s water would get entirely cut before a more senior water user experienced a cut. In this plan, California is offering to take a cut, and that is really a big deal,” Porter said.
According to Porter, this would also ensure Native American tribes would receive water they are obligated to by the federal government.
Porter noted that we are in a “difficult” place when it comes to the Colorado River and the proposals surrounding it.
“It is intended to forestall the really bad stuff, and in that respect, it’s worth a try,” Porter added.
