California, Arizona and Nevada will be required to slash their water use from the drought-stricken Colorado River by 16 to 20% through 2028, under a federal plan set to be released in the next few days, according to a senior state water official.
But some fear it won’t be enough to save the lifeblood water basin as vital reservoirs plummet toward record lows.
The cuts will mark the latest stage of a long-running effort to figure out how seven basin states should share the depleted water of the Colorado River. They’re coming after years of fraught negotiations between the states have not managed to produce a deal, as the river system spirals further into crisis.
On Friday, the US Bureau of Reclamation published its final environmental impact statement, a 10-year operating framework for the waterway under which the lower basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada could face collective cuts of up to 3 million acre feet per year — enough water to supply roughly 9 million average US families.
“This framework provides the flexibility to respond to changing hydrologic conditions while preserving the opportunity for the Basin States to continue working toward durable, consensus-based solutions,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a statement Friday.
