Arizona water use up in the air pending Nevada lawsuit

Arizona officials are calling the Bureau of Reclamation's new Colorado River guidelines a win, even though the state will give up 760,000 acre-feet per year for two years plus 300,000 acre-feet of voluntary conservation — more than 1.8 million acre-feet total by 2028. The celebration is complicated by Nevada's lawsuit against the federal government over cuts to its own entitlement, which has thrown the entire agreement's future into doubt.

Water officials warn of a 'constant cycle of negotiation' ahead, with reconsultations every two years that could double Arizona's cuts depending on Lake Powell's elevation, currently just 140 feet above deadpool. The Central Arizona Project, which supplies nearly half of Phoenix's water, has already been cut off from non-tribal agricultural deliveries once, in 2022.

The Gila River Indian Community has thrown its support behind Nevada's suit, arguing the federal government's failure to address upper basin concerns created this mess. Arizona's attorney general has yet to say whether she'll join the litigation, leaving the state's water future — like its reservoirs — running low.

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