Ducey signed drought plan. So what’s next?
Arizona lawmakers may have felt great relief Thursday after passing the Colorado River drought plan just hours before a federal deadline.
But state conservationists and waterpolicy experts say this is not the time to relax, not when water managers are expected to declare the river’s first shortage next year — even with the drought plan in place.
Almost 20 years of drought, rising temperatures and chronic overuse have strained Lake Mead, the largest reservoir on the Colorado. Following a shortage declaration, which could come as early as January, Arizona would have to reduce its use of Colorado River water by 18 percent.
The drought plan would help reduce the effects of the cutbacks on many water users, including farmers in central Arizona. But some lawmakers want the state to turn its attention to the larger issues of climate change and water conservation to prepare for what they say is a drier future for the Southwest.
And Arizona’s drought plan hasn’t satisfied the Department of the Interior yet.
Federal Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman announced Friday that because neither California nor Arizona had completed all the parts of the plan, the Interior Department would seek guidance from all seven states that rely on the river on how to prevent reservoirs from continuing to drop.
Arizona was the only state that required legislative approval to sign onto the multistate Drought Contingency Plan. Some observers question why the state was included next to California in the commissioner’s announcement.
“I’m at a loss as to what this is all about,” said John Shepard, senior director of programs at the Sonoran Institute. “It almost looked like (this notice) is what would have gone out if Arizona hadn’t signed the bill. I honestly can’t tell you what this is about.”
Burman said she would rescind the call for proposals if the states complete the Drought Contingency Plan before March 4.
“Arizona has really done what it needs to do,” said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. “What we needed to do was to authorize the director of Department of Water Resources to sign the DCP. The governor signed the legislation. There is not any barrier to the director signing the DCP.”
On Thursday, California’s water agencies including the Imperial Irrigation District and Coachella Valley Water Dis-
trict failed to meet the deadline to sign onto the Drought Contingency Plan.
The Imperial Irrigation District threw in a last-minute stipulation, seeking $200 million in federal funds to restore wetlands around the shrinking Salton Sea.
The Salton Sea, a lake in California’s Imperial and Coachella valleys, used to receive runoff from irrigated farmland. Now, increasing amounts of that water is sent to cities and the lake has begun to dry up, Porter said.
The conditions at the Salton Sea have contributed to high rates of asthma in the area, as well as environmental concerns for migratory birds that rely on the lake, she added.
Now the district is using the drought plan as a way to push its request for funding that would mitigate the lake’s problems, Porter said. Considering California’s economic girth, the $200 million shouldn’t stop the state from signing onto the Drought Contingency Plan, she said.
For comparison, Arizona is putting more than $100 million on the table, Porter said.
“I think it’s very hard to solve the Salton Sea problem, and I’m not an expert on it,” Porter said. “But California is a much bigger economy, and so, if you think about how Arizona was able to come up with these big funds, it would seem possible for California. I’m hopeful they will get it done. Everybody’s been working on this for a long time.”
Once finalized and signed off by all seven states, the Drought Contingency Plan will be in effect until 2026.
Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, called the current plan a “Band-Aid” that is not sustainable.
She hopes Arizona will use this time efficiently to come up with a long-term drought-mitigation plan.
“They didn’t even talk about climate change,” Bahr noted. “Gov. Ducey still managed to avoid the words. With pressure alleviated, my concern is that it will be business as usual.”
Bahr questioned how long taxpayers can be called upon to subsidize water-intensive crops, such as alfalfa and cotton. Instead of limiting groundwater or looking for ways of using less groundwater more effectively, taxpayers are paying for it, Bahr said. Lake Mead’s decline is a “self-imposed crisis,” she said.
Shepard agrees that the Drought Contingency Plan is not sustainable. He wants the next set of legislation to address how much water will need to be set aside for storage.
“We don’t know what climate change will do to our water,” Shepard said.
Shepard said climate change manifests in three different ways that affect the West’s water usage: Ongoing drought dries up existing water sources. Catastrophic wildfires also affect water supplies. Increasing heat increases individual water needs, increases the need for cooling and stresses plants that become less productive or collapse.
“How are we going to have enough water to deal with any of those things if they manifest in a larger scale or in an unanticipated way?” Shepard asked.
At the Arizona Legislature, some lawmakers echoed the concerns of conservationists about the need to address long-term drought and climate change.
Rep. Kristen Engel, D-Tucson, voted for the deal Thursday. She was one of the few lawmakers who worked closely with the committee that crafted the plan, and she said more work is needed, especially on the issues of climate change and water scarcity.
Engel said she hopes the state works closely with scientists and farmers to better conserve water and seriously address these shortages.
“It is absurd and careless to think that a 19-year megadrought that we find ourselves in today has nothing to do with climate change,” Engel said. “It has everything to do with climate change.”
Sen. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, was the most vocal of the three Democratic senators who voted against the package Thursday.
He said Arizona needs to get serious about using less water before its evergrowing urban sprawl grows too big and becomes impossible to sustain.
“It’s too much of a temporary fix,” Mendez said in an interview with Republic. “(This plan is) still facilitating, paying for unsustainable water structures … and doesn’t address the reality of climate change.”
But Mendez said he anticipates discussions about responsible and sustainable water use could happen this legislative session.
Part of that optimism comes from Ducey’s comments on climate change during the signing ceremony on Thursday, where he said it would be included in water discussions.