Arizona works on drought plan

Agency puts pressure on Colorado River states

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona is renewing a focus on a drought contingency plan for the shrinking supply of Colorado River water, and other Western states are paying attention.

An Arizona utility was accused earlier this year of manipulating the system that governs water allocations. The Central Arizona Project since has pledged to be more cooperative with other river users.

On Thursday, it joined the Arizona Department of Water Resources to restart discussions in Arizona on how to create more predictability in the river supply amid drought and climate change.

The Bureau of Reclamation has been prodding Colorado River states to wrap up drought contingency plans by the end of the year, one each in the lower and upper basins.

The river serves about 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The amount of water that gets sent to the lower basin states — Arizona, Nevada and California — and Mexico depends on Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam.

Shortages would be triggered if the man-made reservoir on the Arizona-nevada border dips to 1,075 feet above sea level. That has never happened, but the Bureau of Reclamation has put the possibility of a shortage at more than 50 percent in 2020.

The states and Mexico agreed in 2007 on what levels would trigger shortages and where they would be felt, but they say those guidelines no longer fit reality. They’ve been trying to hash out a drought contingency plan that would spread shortages more widely and loop in California.

The absence of a plan resonates beyond the United States. Mexico wouldn’t conserve more water if the lower basin states don’t finalize a plan, said Chris Harris, executive director of the Colorado River Board of California.

Southern Nevada should be able to absorb the 30,000 acre-feet in additional cuts outlined in the contingency plan for when the lake level reaches 1,025 feet, said John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. An acre-foot is enough to supply an average family for a year.

“We already have a cooperative agreement to share costs, programs and any shortage that would be imposed,” he said.