According to reports, California raised the idea of shutting off the Colorado River's water supply to significant Southwest towns

 By Eiia Niisen

January  31, 2023

(CNN) — Representatives from California's influential water districts suggested simulating what the future of the basin would look like if some of the West's largest cities — including Phoenix and Las Vegas — were cut off from the river's water supply, three people familiar with the talks told CNN last week during a closed-door negotiation over the fate of the Colorado River.

40% of Phoenix's water supply comes from the Colorado River, which serves more than 5 million people in Arizona. 90% of the water in Las Vegas comes from the river.

The idea was made during a state-level meeting where the goal was to achieve unprecedented water reductions in order to conserve the Colorado River, a system that supplies energy and water to more than 40 million people in the West. Seven states have been attempting to find cuts for months in order to prevent the river system from collapsing.

The long-standing senior water rights of farmers are being increasingly pitted against the booming urban expansion in discussions to conserve the river as it decreases.

The "law of the river," which grants farmers in significant agricultural districts first dibs on water because they have a priority claim established before other districts' rights — including Californian cities like Los Angeles, which receives about half of its water from the Colorado River — was what California was proposing to follow.

The persons familiar with the conversations claimed that other state officials at the bargaining table immediately and strongly rejected the startling offer.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority's general manager, John Enstminger, told CNN that the plan was a serious worry for public health and safety in Western communities even though he wasn't there at this specific meeting.

"If you want to mimic shutting off the majority or all of 27 million Americans' access to water, you can do that, but doing that would have the worst effects for approximately 10% of the country," Entsminger said.

Tom Buschatzke, Arizona's top water official, declined to comment on the meeting that was held behind closed doors. However, he assured CNN that Arizonan officials would not even consider completely turning off water from the Colorado River to their largest towns and Native American tribes.

According to Buschatzke, "I would neither accept or request that the federal government create a scenario in which the Central Arizona Project drops to zero." "I won't carry out it. If CAP was 0, there would be some very serious consequences. Tribes, towns, and industry all experienced great hardship."

According to a source with knowledge of the meeting, California did not request that other cities and agencies be completely eliminated from the model, but it did specify that if California were to give in to other states' demands, it also desired that one of the options adopt the river's current strict priority system "as the default baseline."

Last year, Camille Touton, commissioner of the US Bureau of Reclamation, urged the seven states of the Colorado River Basin—California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming—to find ways to reduce their use of 2 to 4 million acre-feet, or as much as 30% of their allotted river water. She pledged that if a deal couldn't be reached, the federal government would step in.

Who must make the most drastic reduction in order to maintain Colorado River flow into America's greatest reservoirs? The nation's greatest reservoirs are continuing to lose water, and if the federal government steps in harshly, it may lead to a contentious court dispute.

According to a person acquainted with the conversation, Arizona believes that California will let them "dry up and blow away." The insider said, "We battled for a century to protect our super-priority, why should we give it up now?" said California.

California's water agencies presented a different, more constrained plan to federal authorities on Tuesday after six other states in the Colorado River basin published a plan for water reduction on Monday.

The plan states that from 2023 to 2026, the state would preserve an extra 400,000 acre-feet of water, or about 130 billion gallons. Overall, it is looking for voluntary lower basin reductions of around 1 million acre-feet per year, with contributions from California, Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico totaling 400,000, 500,000, 20,000, and 80,000, respectively.

It is less than 10% of the state's water allotment and roughly equal to the plan the state put up in October. Out of all the states in the basin, California receives the most water from the Colorado River.

The plan from California would go into effect if Lake Mead and Lake Powell rose to altitudes of 1,000 and 3,500 feet, respectively. These elevations are dangerously close to the reservoirs' "dead pool" levels, which are the points at which water is so low that it can no longer pass through the dams.

If Lake Mead heights continue to drop, California's proposal includes "increasing cuts," but it doesn't say by how much.

According to JB Hamby, chair of the California Colorado River Board and member of the Imperial Irrigation District board, the state's plan "provides a realistic and implementable framework" that "builds on voluntary agreements and past collaborative efforts in order to minimise implementation delays."

General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Adel Hagekhalil stated in a statement that the state was committed to making cuts, but in a way that "does not hurt the 19 million residents of Southern California, who make up half of the people who depend on the river."

Hagekhalil stated, "We must do it without completely wrecking our $1.6 trillion economy, an economic engine for the whole United States. "The plan put out by California today does all of this without negatively impacting any one agency or state by equally distributing the risk among Basin states. Not the plan that was given yesterday, which excluded California."

The plan put up on Monday by the six other basin states, which has an annual maximum of 3.1 million acre-feet, is less than California's request. The water lost to evaporation and poor river infrastructure was also taken into consideration by that six-state model.

Additionally, the six-state strategy suggests activating if Lake Mead levels reach close to 1,050 feet. Currently at 1,047 feet, Lake Mead has been as low as 1,040 feet last summer.

While recognising that the negotiations have been challenging thus far, many governments told CNN that they will continue to attempt to reach a consensus.

Chuck Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission, stated that "we're dedicated to continuing to work collaboratively as seven basin states."

The top water official for Arizona, Buschatzke, hailed the six-state idea as a "really great conclusion" and said that he and others would work to maintain contact with California.

Buschatzke stated, "I'm dedicated to continuing to engage with all seven states," adding that more discussions and negotiations will take place "over the next few months."

Nevertheless, the likelihood that federal authorities may enact their own cuts in the coming months grows due to the breakdown in communication between California and the rest of the Colorado River Basin. According to Buschatzke, federal authorities haven't given the states anything about the specific amount of cutbacks they're aiming for.

He stated, "They haven't provided us with any cumulative ballpark." It will be easier to reduce the gap on the necessary reductions if we know the general range, in my opinion, and finally the precise figure.

Under the terms of a Creative Commons licence, this article has been taken from CNN. Go here to read the original article.