The Colorado River Basin is currently experiencing its worst drought in recorded history; water stored in the Colorado River reservoirs is the lowest in over 50 years. The Bureau of Reclamation has been working with each of the seven Colorado River Basin states to develop drought contingency plans (DCPs) which, if implemented, would hopefully reduce the risk of Colorado River reservoirs declining to critically low levels.
In December 2017, Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman called on the seven states and water entitlement holders in the Lower Colorado Basin to continue developing Drought Contingency Plans in response to ongoing drought conditions, to reduce chances of Colorado River reservoirs—particularly Lakes Powell and Mead—dropping to critical levels. The Colorado River Basin states worked throughout 2018 on draft DCP agreements for the Upper and Lower Basins.
The Upper Basin DCP is designed to protect critical elevations at Lake Powell and help assure continued compliance with the 1922 Colorado River Compact and authorize storage of conserved water in the Upper Basin that could help establish the foundation for a Demand Management Program that may be developed in the future.
The Lower Basin DCP requires Arizona, California, and Nevada to contribute additional water to Lake Mead storage at predetermined elevations and create additional flexibility to encourage additional voluntary conservation of water to be stored in Lake Mead. The Upper and Lower Basin DCPs contain actions in addition to the provisions of the December 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and coordinated operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
After years of work and delays, in December 2018 Department of Reclamation’s commissioner indicated that if the DCPs were not completed by Jan. 31, 2019, Reclamation would issue solicitation for input from the seven basin states’ governors regarding recommendations for potential actions by the Department of the Interior to reduce the risks of Lakes Powell and Mead declining to critically low levels.
One holdup was Arizona, the only state which requires their legislature to agree to the plan, but on Jan. 31, the Arizona Legislature passed and Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed the legislation authorizing the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources to execute the interstate DCP agreements. This important step may indicate that finalization of the DCPs will soon take place. Now the only holdup is a couple of California counties. — Heather Smith Thomas, WLJ correspondent
