A H2OPE FOR COOPERATION
Everyone loses if we cannot agree on how we use water
Arizona water interests have reached an impasse on an agreement being negotiated to respond to drought on the Colorado River. In addition, our water management agencies are now in a legal dispute.
As new members of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board of Directors representing Maricopa and Pima counties, we believe that cooperation is imperative to protect our water during this time of water scarcity. Water is critical to our future, our economy and our way of life.
Arizonans have a history of putting partisanship aside and finding common ground when it comes to resolving our water disputes. With vision and leadership, we have created a thriving economy and secured our water future. It has not been easy, requiring negotiation, cooperation and compromise.
The water scarcity dilemma on the Colorado River is two-fold: We’re facing an extended drought and a “structural deficit,” which means that the Colorado River is over-allocated by about 1.2 million acre feet (or a 12 foot reduction in Lake Mead’s water elevation per year).
To manage water scarcity during an almost twodecade-long drought, Arizona water leaders agreed to the 2007 Shortage and Sharing Guidelines. They are currently negotiating three drought plans: 1) the Drought Contingency Plan with California and Nevada, 2) the Drought Contingency Plan Plus among Arizona water interests, and 3) Minute 32x with Mexico.
The purpose of the Drought Contingency Plan is to address the immediate problem of drought by re-
ducing the use of Colorado River water to prevent lower water levels in Lake Mead from triggering water shortages. The urgency of the dilemma is felt most profoundly by Arizona because we have the lowest priority to Colorado River water, meaning that our Central Arizona Project supplies will be reduced first and in larger quantities than California and Nevada, with potentially significant impacts on our economy.
Because the risks of shortage at Lake Mead are so high to Arizonans, we negotiated the Drought Contingency Plan Plus to save even more water in Lake Mead by reducing Colorado River water use and storage within Arizona for three years.
Some water users would receive monetary compensation or credits to temporarily leave their water in the lake rather than using it or storing it in aquifers within Arizona. Some of the funding would come from tax dollars.
In wet years, the contributions of water to Lake Mead contemplated by the Drought Contingency Plan Plus could have the unintended consequence of reducing the amount of water that gets released from Lake Powell under the 2007 Guidelines, which could then trigger a shortage at Lake Mead.
Central Arizona Project experts want to avoid unintentionally triggering a shortage at taxpayer expense and believe that a flexible approach to managing water savings in Lake Mead, which takes into account the highly variable hydrology of the river as well as water savings efforts of other states, would allow water managers to more effectively avoid future shortages at the lake.
Ultimately, lasting conservation measures are critical to the long-term health of the Colorado River and solving the structural deficit.
Arizonans must work together to increase the efficiency of our water use, to be cognizant of how we grow, and to cut back on our water consumption. It is essential that we put our differences aside to find innovative solutions that result in lasting conservation to improve the health of the river and to secure our water supplies.
In the short term, we need the flexibility to determine the best way to save our water each year with the goal of reducing the probability of triggering shortage at Lake Mead. In the long-term, we must work together toward the goal of lasting conservation on the Colorado River and reducing the structural deficit.
The Arizona Legislature created the Water Conservation District, which is overseen by an elected non-partisan board accountable to the people of Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties, to levy taxes, pay for construction of the Central Arizona Project canal, operate and maintain the canal, and deliver safe, reliable water to its customers. The Water Conservation District is also responsible for managing replenishment and water storage programs.
The Water Conservation District works closely with the Arizona Department of Water Resources, which has general control and supervision of surface water, including Central Arizona Project water, and groundwater in the state.
This collaborative partnership is an essential element in Arizona’s effective water management, ensuring that the knowledge and expertise of both the Water Conservation District and the Department of Water Resources are harnessed when making decisions that impact the Colorado River and Central Arizona Project.
It is essential that Arizonans continue working together to avoid shortages on Lake Mead in times of drought and to achieve lasting conservation of Colorado River water. This means there must be room to express different viewpoints, creative alternatives and innovative approaches to water management. Negotiation, cooperation and compromise, while difficult, result in the best solutions.
One thing is certain, however. If we can’t reach agreement, everyone is worse off. We live in this desert together, and water sustains us all.