Seven states that depend on the Colorado River to provide power and water for drinking have agreed on a plan of cuts in order to keep it flowing.
Three states, Arizona, California, and Nevada have come up with a plan for conserving at least 3,000,000 acre feet by 2026. This is roughly equivalent to the water needed to fill 6,000,000 Olympic-sized swimming pool.
In a press release , the Biden Administration announced the deal on Monday.
After decades of excessive use, the seven states that depend on the Colorado River faced a crisis. The reservoir at Lake Mead was so drained before a snowy winter that it was close to “dead-pool” status, when the flow to lower regions would be cut because the river levels were too low to pass the dams.
Around 40 million people depend on the Colorado River to provide drinking water. Utilities rely on the Colorado River to generate electricity in dams at Lake Mead, Lake Powell and maintain power flow in several states.
The agreement should prevent a near-term water crisis, and set the states on more sustainable paths for water usage. However, it requires less conservation than what some scientists believe is needed to stabilize the river following a drought of more than two decades. This deal prevents the Biden administration from being in a difficult political situation, as it would have had to enforce water cuts unilaterally without the agreement of the states.
The Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland said, “Today’s news is a testament of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to work with Tribes, States and Communities throughout the West in order to find solutions to climate change and drought.”
In order to comply with the agreement, the Biden administration will compensate farmers and water users temporarily willing to accept cuts using funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. The Biden administration agreed to temporarily pull the plans that it had drafted from drastic cuts in the event the state negotiations did not succeed while it analyzes the agreement of the states.
This story is in progress. Please check back often for updates.
