Democrat says ‘Arizona got screwed’ in Colorado River water agreement

Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton said Tuesday that “Arizona got screwed” in the latest Colorado River water deal, which is why the state joined a lawsuit aimed at leveling the playing field.

On Friday, Arizona signed on to Nevada’s lawsuit over Colorado River water management in a case Stanton thinks could wind up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Arizona got hit harder by far than any other basin state despite the fact that the current agreement says that half of the water goes to the upper basin, half should go to the lower basin,” he said. “When they did these most recent cuts, they didn’t split it evenly. They hammered the lower basin and Arizona disproportionately.”

Why did Arizona join Colorado River lawsuit?

Stanton explained that the lawsuit is not a challenge to the two-year operating agreement that goes into effect in 2027.

“Arizona is stepping up to the plate,” he said. “We’re willing to take on [a] 30% cut to our Colorado River allotment, but we’re not going to take on more. The point of the lawsuit is to say, moving forward, this is not going to become the new normal about how cuts occur.”

Stanton said Arizona can make plans for future cuts as long as the reductions are shared equally among the basins.

“What we can’t plan for is essentially losing, eventually, all of our Colorado River allotment,” he said. “That’s called the sideboard agreement, and that’s what this lawsuit is about. The cuts that are made in this two-year period cannot become the basis for additional cuts later on — even more draconian.”

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