Feds ready plan on Colorado River. California likes it so far

After months of pressing western states to come to their own agreement, the Trump administration told their leaders it’s drawing up a 10-year plan for dealing with water shortages on the Colorado River.

- By IAN JAMES

The river is a major water source for Southern California and much of the Southwest, but its largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are severely depleted, and their levels continue to drop.

News of the federal government’s preliminary plan surfaced Wednesday during a meeting in Phoenix. Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said federal officials informed state water managers they are developing a 10-year “framework” with specific rules requiring water reductions that would be reassessed every two years.

So far, negotiators for California, Arizona and Nevada have offered to use roughly 1.6 million acre-feet less annually over the next two years. But Buschatzke said the Trump administration’s plan would allow for mandatory cutbacks of up to 3 million acre-feet per year in the three states — as much as 40% of their combined allotments.

That’s nearly as much as all the water that flowed from 19 million people's taps across Southern California last year.

Buschatzke called such large mandatory cuts a sobering possibility for Arizona.

The offer from California, Arizona and Nevada this month was a water-saving proposal for the next two years. It would help the low levels of Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir.

Buschatzke said the idea is that the proposal can govern water sharing for 2027 and 2028. After that, there would be new rounds of negotiations to readjust cuts every two years.