Following the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) announcement of further cutbacks to Colorado River water usage, an Arizona Tribe has stated it will no longer provide water to restore levels in Lake Mead.
The Gila River Indian Community said in a statement on Aug. 16 that the announcement by BOR Commissioner Camille Touton came as no surprise but was a “hopeful call to action” for the Colorado Basin states to work on a solution to conserve water and “to put us on a road to a more stable system for all.”
According to the statement, the Tribe is an entitlement holder on nearly one-quarter of water in the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and has been engaged with the state since 2016 to provide 600,000 acre-feet (an acre-foot is 325,851 gallons) for Lake Mead to raise its elevation by over 10 feet.
In December 2021, the Gila River Indian Community and the Colorado River Indian Tribes signed a memorandum of understanding to leave 179,000 acre-feet of their allotment to keep lake levels from falling as part of the 500+ Plan. The 500+ Plan called for the Tribes and Lower Basin states of Nevada, Arizona and California to voluntarily cut back their allocation by 500,000 acre-feet from the river to stave off mandatory cutbacks.
“We are fortunate to have very significant water supplies that are available for system conservation, and our offer made it possible for Arizona to meaningfully commit to substantial water use reductions as part of a Basin state dialogue to develop a cooperative plan,” said Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis.
Talks between the Upper and Lower Basin states broke down before the Aug. 15 deadline. Touton said before the deadline, states would need to cut back by 2 to 4 million acre-feet to preserve water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell. With no agreement in place, Touton announced the Lower Basin states are in a Tier 2 water shortage, and Arizona would receive 21 percent (592,000 acre-feet) less water in 2023.
As a result of the talk breakdowns, the Gila River Indian Community decided to store their water supplies underground rather than contributing to the conservation program for Lake Mead.
“We are aware that this approach will have a very significant impact on the ability of the state of Arizona to make any meaningful commitment to water reductions in the basin state discussions, but we cannot continue to put the interests of all others above our own when no other parties seem committed to the common goal of a cooperative basin-wide agreement,” Lewis said in the statement.
“While we are likely to face even more substantial reductions in the future as a result of this approach, the value of the water we store will be substantially higher than the value of system conservation, and it appears that this is the only thing that matters at this point to other water users in the system.”
The CAP told the news outlet Arizona Republic they are hopeful if a broader plan is approved, the Tribe “will choose to participate along with other Arizona water users.” The agency praised the Tribe for their work in developing the Drought Contingency Plan and conserving water.
In the interim, a plan is circulating among irrigation districts in Arizona and California to conserve up to 925,000 acre-feet. Irrigation districts in Arizona’s Yuma County and California’s Imperial and Riverside counties are working on a plan to save the river.
According to Axios Phoenix, the plan is to forgo 1 acre-foot of water per irrigated acre for the next four years in exchange for about $1,500 per acre-foot annually.
“What we’re saying in Yuma is we don’t want to be paid not to farm. We want to be paid money so that we can develop better production, whether it’s in seed technology, other technology, infrastructure,” Wade Noble, a Yuma water attorney who serves as a spokesperson for the ??Yuma County Agriculture Water Coalition, told Axios Phoenix.
The plan would cost billions, with some of the funds coming from the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides $4 billion for drought mitigation, and some funds coming from other drought resiliency bills passed earlier this year.
Noble said the coalition hasn’t talked with CAP or the Arizona Department of Water Resources, but both agencies have been critical of voluntary conservation programs. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
