State under pressure to finish water deal
Deadline approaches for Colo. River drought plan
With just 16 days left until a deadline set by the federal government, the Arizona Legislature is under pressure to push through a Colorado River drought plan that would prevent Lake Mead from dropping to extremely low levels.
Gov. Doug Ducey appealed to lawmakers Tuesday to get the deal done quickly, saying it’s his top priority.
“This is by far the most pressing issue we face as a state,” Ducey said at a news conference. “And the clock is ticking.”
Some potential sticking points remain to be worked out.
For one thing, Pinal County farmers who face water cutbacks are asking the Legislature for $10 million to help pay for drilling new wells and building other infrastructure as they begin to pump more groundwater. That’s $5 million more than Ducey had proposed. The farmers are also asking for additional “backstop” measures to ensure they’ll get the water and the funding they’re counting on.
Ducey said as state officials finish nailing down the details in consultation with farmers, cities, tribes and water districts, “everyone is going to have to give.”
Flanked by legislators from both parties, the governor expressed confidence in passing legislation to enable Arizona to participate in the proposed threestate Drought Contingency Plan.
“We are committing to get this done for the future of Arizona,” Ducey said. “We’re going to get the Drought Contingency Plan done.”
But differences remain as negotiators work on final language for a deal. Beyond the concerns of growers in Pinal County, homebuilders are seeking separate assurances of water for new development and tribal leaders have set conditions for participating in the agreement.
And there’s no guarantee legislators will act immediately once an agreement reaches their desks. Some lawmakers have already said they don’t want to be rushed into signing off on a deal.
The stakes are high. Lake Mead is now 39 percent full, while Lake Powell is 40 percent full. Federal water managers say it’s likely they’ll declare a shortage based on Lake Mead levels for the first time starting next year, and without significant changes, water levels are projected to continue declining.
If Arizona doesn’t pass legislation and sign the Drought Contingency Plan together with California and Nevada by Jan. 31, Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman has warned that the federal government will step in with measures to prevent reservoirs from falling to critically low levels.
Arizona’s water managers say a federal government plan wouldn’t take into account the delicate compromise that’s been worked out during months of negotiations.
In his State of the State speech on Monday, Ducey told lawmakers: “It’s time to protect Lake Mead and Arizona.”
He repeated that call on Tuesday, standing beside former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl and former Gov. Bruce Babbitt, who have both played central roles in crafting water policy for decades. Babbitt, who was Interior secretary under President Bill Clinton, said if the drought plan is passed, much work remains to be done on long-term efforts to deal with growing strains on the Colorado River.
“This is not the end,” Babbitt said. “This is the beginning of the next step of a long and continual discussion.”
The Colorado River has long been overallocated, with the demands of farms and cities outstripping the available water supply. And the river basin, which stretches from Wyoming to Mexico, has been drying out during what scientists say is one of the driest 19-year periods in the past 1,200 years.
Human-caused climate change has contributed to the drought across the region during the past 19 years. The higher temperatures have shrunk the average snowpack in the mountains in many areas, reduced the flow of streams, and increased the amount of water evaporating off the landscape.
Since 2000, the amount of water flowing in the Colorado River has dropped 19 percent below the average of the past century. Scientific research has found that about half the trend of decreasing runoff from 2000-2014 in the Upper Colorado River Basin was the result of unprecedented warming.
“This issue is important and it’s urgent,” Ducey told lawmakers during his speech. “Let’s prove we can work together in a bipartisan fashion and get this done.”
Ducey didn’t mention climate change. But Babbitt stressed that’s part of what Arizona is starting to grapple with. He said if a deal is reached and the short-term concerns are eased, next will come larger discussions about the imbalance between demand and supply, and coping with a hotter, drier climate.
“If you look at the projections modified by climate change and exacerbated by climate change, it’s clear that this DCP is an interim solution,” Babbitt said. “This, in a way, is more of a preview of a more complex discussion that will have to follow.”
Water managers in Arizona, California and Nevada have been discussing the proposed drought plan for the past few years. If the three states all sign on and agree to share in the water cutbacks, Mexico has pledged under a separate deal to contribute by temporarily leaving more water in Lake Mead.