Arizona to bear the brunt of Colorado River cuts for two years as long-term talks continue

Filed 3d ago · Via Arizona Mirror · The Buffoon Desk

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Medieval Loop One

Alexander Nakarada · creatorchords.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Mary Anne Fackelman · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

The federal government announced Friday that Lower Basin states — Arizona, California and Nevada — will cut Colorado River usage by 1.25 million acre-feet annually in 2027 and 2028, more than double current required reductions, while longer-term talks with Upper Basin states continue.

Arizona will shoulder the largest share at 760,000 acre-feet per year, with California cutting 440,000 and Nevada 50,000, while avoiding the more severe Central Arizona Project cuts proposed earlier this year.

Lower Basin officials praised the deal's stability but insisted Upper Basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — must eventually accept mandatory cuts of their own, with Lake Powell and Lake Mead sitting near their lowest levels since 1957.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Three states have spent decades tightening their belts while a fourth group insists nature's cuts are cuts enough, and the federal government's answer is a two-year peace treaty that resolves nothing structurally. Everyone involved is very pleased to have avoided the Supreme Court for now, which is not the same as having solved a shrinking river. Deadpool is a vivid word for a reservoir; it is an even more vivid word for a negotiation.

Source: Read the original at Arizona Mirror → Scored: Medieval Loop One · Alexander Nakarada · CC BY 4.0

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