Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) officials announced the Lower Basin states of the Colorado River are under a Tier 2 water shortage as levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead continue to drop.
BOR Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said at a press conference that the Colorado River has reached a “tipping point” as the Basin is in the midst of a historic drought.
Touton said the forecast from the August 24-Month Study prompted BOR to declare a Tier 2 water shortage as Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at “historically low levels.”
“The solution to our challenges relies on the bedrock of a century of collaboration and partnership in the Colorado River Basin,” Touton said. “But as water stewards, it is our responsibility to protect the system and the millions of Americans who depend on it. Today, Reclamation starts the process on actions we can take to deliver on those responsibilities.”
The Tier 2 declaration will result in further cutbacks to cities and farmers in Arizona, Nevada and Mexico.
The announcement was not as severe as the BOR threatened in June when Touton said Colorado River water users needed to reduce water usage by 2-4 million acre-feet (an acre-foot is 325,851 gallons).
Upper and Lower Basin states were working on a solution to reduce water usage but could not reach an agreement by mid-August when the 24-Month Study was released. According to the Associated Press, federal officials did not say how much time states will have to reach an agreement.
Arizona will bear the brunt of it, with cutbacks of 21 percent (592,000 acre-feet) of the state’s yearly allotment of Colorado River water starting in January.
Officials with the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) and the Central Arizona Project (CAP) said after the announcement the state was working hard with Nevada to take the steps necessary to reduce water usage, but their proposal was rejected.
“It is unacceptable for Arizona to continue to carry a disproportionate burden of reductions for the benefit of others who have not contributed,” ADWR and CAP said in a statement.
Water allocation will also be reduced by 104,000 acre-feet to Mexico and 25,000 acre-feet to Nevada, or roughly 8 percent of Nevada’s allocation from the Colorado River.
California will not be required to cut back, as it has more senior water rights than the other states.
BOR stated that the agency would take several administrative actions in the Basin.
For Upper Basin states, it will continue to work with states and Tribes to implement additional releases from Upper Basin reservoirs to enhance the elevation at Lake Powell. It will accelerate maintenance at the Glen Canyon Dam on the bypass tubes to allow water “to be pumped or released from below currently identified critical and dead pool elevations.”
The dead pool elevation at Lake Powell is 3,490 feet, when water cannot be released downstream. As of Aug. 16, the current water level was 3,534 feet, or 166 feet below its capacity. The August 24-Month Study projects the water level as of Jan. 1, 2023, to be 3,521.84 feet.
In Lower Basin states, BOR will take administrative actions to define Lake Mead’s operation at elevations below 1,025 feet. The goal is to reduce the risk of the reservoir “declining to critically low levels.” The current water level at Lake Mead is 1,042.4 feet as of Aug. 16, and the August 24-Month Study projects the level at 1,040.78 feet in January. BOR will also address evaporation and seepage losses in Lower Basin waterways and create new initiatives to ensure urban and agricultural water is being used efficiently.
“Reclamation remains fully committed to working in a consensus manner across the Upper and Lower Basins, with Tribes and with the country of Mexico,” Touton said. “I am confident that, by working together, we can achieve meaningful change toward a sustainable future for the river that serves as the lifeblood of the American West.”
In a letter to Department of the Interior officials on Aug. 15, John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said since his and Touton’s testimony to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the “last 62 days produced exactly nothing in terms of meaningful collective action to help forestall the looming crisis.”
Entsminger recommended cities and agriculture take action to reduce water usage, including the removal of turf, wastewater recycling, incentivizing conversion to low-water crops and funding improvement projects at the Glen Canyon Dam.
The recently signed Inflation Reduction Act by President Joe Biden will allocate $4 billion to assist with the water shortfall in the Colorado River.
Some funds will go to the System Conservation Pilot Program, which would pay farmers and ranchers to let their fields go fallow. It will also fund conservation efforts and environmental restoration projects, including allowing river conservation districts and state water agencies to apply for grants to rent or buy water rights from farmers, ranchers and Tribes to restore flows in the Colorado River and other major Western watersheds. The legislation includes funds to help Native American Tribes respond to drought, adapt to climate change and build water infrastructure projects.
“The Biden administration is taking an all-of-government approach to mitigating the drought, and the Interior Department is committed to using every resource available to conserve water and ensure that irrigators, Tribes and adjoining communities receive adequate assistance and support to build resilient communities and protect our water supplies,” said BOR Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
