Colorado River may require ‘decisive action,’ U.S. warns
and the Law of the River is followed,” said Rachel Magos, executive director of the Imperial County Farm Bureau. Tina Shields, the district’s water depart- ment manager, said it is important to safe- guard the existing priority water rights sys- tem for the river, while seeking consensus on how to deal with the challenge. “IID supports Reclamation’s pursuit to seek a collaborative and consensus-based approach to addressing the drought to protect the Colorado River System,” Shields said.
She added, “The Colorado River is the Imperial Valley’s only water supply, so the initiation of a process to identify options to bring the system into balance is welcome.” Along with the IID, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Coachella Valley Water District and Palo Verde Irrigation District have told fed- eral officials they are prepared to jointly conserve water to protect the river. All but Metropolitan have senior water rights.
By Peter Hecht Federal officials have issued a thinly veiled threat to impose new cuts in wa- ter deliveries from the Colorado River if California and six other western states fail to reach a conservation agreement to pro- tect severely depleted reservoirs. The warnings from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation come after California water agencies proposed measures on Oct. 5 to curb their water consumption—despite being entitled to the largest share of water from the river. Four California water agencies offered to implement conservation measures to conserve an additional 400,000 acre- feet of water over each of the next three years. Some 250,000 acre-feet would come from the Imperial Irrigation District, which relies on the river water for the Imperial Valley’s robust winter vegetable farming economy. That would curb irrigation supplies by another 8% for farmers who have already cut water use by 16% since 2003. But federal officials demand 2 million to 4 million acre-feet in water savings to protect the river and keep Lake Mead—be- hind Hoover Dam in Nevada—from reach- ing “deadpool” status when no water could flow downstream. In an Oct. 28 notice, federal officials said they may need to curtail down- stream water releases from Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona. The move signals that federal officials may unilaterally impose additional water de- livery cuts. “The Interior Department continues to pursue a collaborative and consen- sus-based approach to addressing the drought crisis afflicting the West,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “At the same time, we are committed to taking prompt and decisive action neces- sary to protect the Colorado River system and all those who depend on it.” Haaland said, “Revising the current interim operating guidelines for Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams represents one of many critical departmental efforts underway to better protect the system in light of rapidly changing conditions in the basin.” Chris Scheuring, senior counsel for the California Farm Bureau, said the an- nouncement signaled federal officials’ willingness to intervene. “What is happening is that the states remain in disagreement with each other about who should cut back and at what amount, and the feds are developing a plan to take action without consensus, if necessary,” Scheuring said. The Colorado River provides water to seven states and Mexico, serving agri- culture and 40 million people. Shrinking water levels at Lake Mead triggered man- datory cuts in water deliveries this year for Arizona, Nevada and Mexico, but California was spared.
The Imperial Irrigation District deliv- ers 95% to 97% of its water to agriculture, triggering fears that farmers may have to fallow significant additional acreage if fed- eral officials override their senior water rights to the river. (See related commen- tary on Page 2.)
See COLORADO, Page 6
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