Posted Oct 18, 2021, 8:33 am
States in the Colorado River Basin
are adjusting to the reality that their rights outstrip the available
water by nearly one-third, state and tribal leaders told a congressional
panel Friday.
The situation is likely only to
worsen as the climate changes, leaving states and tribes in competition
for their most vital resource.
Representatives from the seven
Western states — Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, California, Utah
and Wyoming — that depend on the river for drinking water and
irrigation said at a U.S. House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing
that they are preparing for a future where the river and their
entitlements do not match.
State officials and lawmakers
emphasized how serious the situation was, but offered few solutions
during Friday’s hearing — the first of two the panel plans to hold on
the drought in the Colorado Basin — beyond general appeals to
conservation and collaboration.
States and tribes in the basin are
legally entitled to 15 million acre-feet of water per year, with another
1.5 million going to Mexico, but only about 12.4 million has flowed in
an average year over the last two decades.
The deficit is the result of a
years-long drought that was tied to climate change, U.S. Rep. Jared
Huffman, a California Democrat who chairs the House Subcommittee on
Water, Oceans and Wildlife, and others said.
“After more than two decades of
drought with no end in sight, it’s clear — to most of us at least — that
climate change is fundamentally altering the Colorado River,” Huffman
said. “It’s decreasing the amount of water available from this key
river.”
Ranking Republican Cliff Bentz, of Oregon, said the shortage in the Colorado River Basin could soon be the reality elsewhere.
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“This situation the Colorado’s facing
is so reflective of what we’re going to be seeing all over the West,”
Bentz said, adding that whatever solution was reached could be “a
template of some sort.”
Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva,
chairman of the full Natural Resources Committee, called for “a
comprehensive initiative” to plan for lower water levels in the basin.
States preach cooperation
Representatives from the states
testified about the challenges the shortfall created, and how they were
preparing for a more dire future, though they offered few specific
solutions.
“Drought and climate change are
presenting challenges that are likely to increase over time,” Tom
Buschatzke, the director of Arizona’s Department of Water Resources,
said.
Buschatzke said the choice was either
to cut each state’s water allocation or to conserve use. Arizona was
focused on conservation, he said. Partnerships with tribes, neighboring
states and other entities would help, he added.
John Entsminger, the general manager
of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said collaborative, regional
projects like a water recycling partnership between his agency and one
in Southern California, would be needed to deal with the lower water
flows.
“We have a simple but difficult
decision to make,” he said. “Do we double down on the promises of the
last century and fight over water that simply isn’t there, or do we roll
up our sleeves and deal with the climate realities of this century?”
Rebecca Mitchell, director of the
Colorado Water Conservation Board, said water shortages were forcing
“heart-breaking” decisions for the state’s farmers, ranchers and tribal
communities.
Some residents had decided to sell multi-generational family farms, she said.
“These decisions have significant psychological, sociological and economic impacts to the communities,” she said.
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John D’Antonio, the state engineer
for New Mexico, said the partnership between states, tribes and the
Mexican government had worked for nearly a century and called for that
to continue, even as water levels drop.
“Any future decision-making process
should consider science, legal and policy aspects concurrently,” he
said. “I am confident that all seven Basin states will strive to employ a
fact-based approach that considers that holistic vision.”
Bentz said the ideas of collaboration
and conservation sounded good, but raised doubt about what those ideas
could do on their own.
Saying he could pose the same
question to anyone who had testified, he asked Mitchell how much water
conservation measures could save in her state.
Colorado’s water conservation plan
could conserve 400,000 acre-feet, Mitchell said, though she said that
included areas outside the Colorado River Basin.
Tribal rights
Amelia Flores, chairwoman of the
Colorado River Indian Tribes, told the panel that her government lacked
full rights to its share of the water. More than 70 miles of the river
runs through the tribes’ lands in Arizona and California.
While the tribes are allowed to
divert water for their own purposes, they may not lease it to other
communities, a right other tribes enjoy, Flores said. A bill to allow
the Colorado River Indian Tribes the same right would help their
neighbors, she’s said.
“Without the right to lease our
water, we can do little to directly assist communities in Arizona,” she
said. “We are simply requesting the right to decide for ourselves how
best to use our water.”
This report was first published by the Arizona Mirror.
This content was originally published here.