Federal officials announced sharp water cuts for the next two years on Friday for three Western states that rely on .
Under the Bureau of Reclamation’s plan, will collectively reduce water use by 1.25 million acre-feet (about 1.54 billion cubic meters) annually during that period, with the possibility of larger cuts depending on conditions.
Arizona will see the biggest cuts, while states upstream 鈥� Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico 鈥� do not face any for now.
Meanwhile neighboring Mexico will reduce its intake by 250,000 acre-feet (about 310 million cubic meters) under a U.S.-Mexico treaty.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been in this 26-year prolonged drought period,鈥� said Andrea Travnicek, the Interior Department鈥檚 assistant secretary for water and science. 鈥淲e continue to see a prolonged drought in our future. So continuing to work together as a whole within the basin is going to be extremely important.鈥�
The current rules governing the use of the river鈥檚 water are set to expire in October, and the seven states have been unable to reach a consensus on sharing it over the long term.
Last winter on record for the Colorado River Basin, adding more stress on farmers, industry, wildlife and hydropower producers, as well as tens of millions of people who rely on the waterway, including in dozens of Native American tribes and in two Mexican states.
Years of overuse combined with drought and rising temperatures due to climate change have depleted the country鈥檚 two largest reservoirs, which are both fed by the Colorado. to its lowest level since it began filling nine decades ago, and did the same about a week later. Their combined storage is the in nearly seven decades.
Negotiators in Arizona thanked California and Nevada for their collaboration on sharing the cuts.
鈥淔or 2027 and 2028, the reductions that are now memorialized here will provide substantial stability for folks,鈥� said Tom Buschatzke, Arizona Department of Water Resources director. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue to negotiate and figure out how we鈥檙e going to operate over a longer-term period, which is what we all want.鈥�
JB Hamby, California鈥檚 chief Colorado River negotiator, said the plan brings 鈥渟ome badly needed near-term certainty at a moment of extraordinary risk,鈥� though he called it 鈥渁 bridge, not a permanent solution.鈥�
In Southern Nevada, Kyle Roerink, senior adviser at the conservation group Great Basin Water Network, said efforts to build a new airport and shopping malls and some public land sales have not progressed, reflecting the dire hydrology inked in the federal documents. Further cuts could slow real estate development in metro Las Vegas, he said.
鈥淲hen the Hoover Dam, a symbol of American fortitude and American power, drops and loses its shine, it can be scary,鈥� Roerink said. 鈥淏ut it can also pose itself as a great opportunity for us to prepare for the next hundred years in a meaningful way.鈥�
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