Arizona joins lawsuit over Colorado River plan, warns of deep water cuts

Arizona is joining Nevada’s legal fight against a new federal plan for the Colorado River, warning the rules could force deep water cuts that threaten supplies to Phoenix, Tucson and much of the state.

The state filed a motion Friday to intervene in Nevada’s lawsuit challenging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s recent decision on how the river is managed.

“Like Nevada, Arizona believes the federal government’s new operating framework ignores basic elements of the law of the river and could result in cuts to the state … that would devastate Arizona’s economy,” head of Arizona’s Department Water Resources Tom Buschatzke said.

The two-year framework from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requires the Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and California to cut 1.25 million acre-feet of water over the next two years.

The three states came to their own agreement after the Upper Basin refused to agree to mandatory water cuts.

The two-year framework reflects the cuts agreed to by the Lower Basin, but the bureau failed to include other protections in the agreement.

Why Arizona is fighting the Colorado River plan

The Arizona Department of Water Resources has two problems with the bureau’s Record of Decision.

First, Buschatzke said the plan fails to deliver the amount of water owed to the Lower Basin under the law of the river.

The 1922 Colorado River Compact requires the Upper Basin to deliver 75 million acre-feet of water over a 10-year period, or roughly 7.5 million acre-feet a year.

Second, the framework for years 3-10 risks drying up the Central Arizona Project.

A range of sideboards could trigger further reductions in the Lower Basin of up to 3 million acre-feet based on priority. Arizona has junior water rights to the river.

“Such reductions could essentially dry up the Central Arizona Project, as well as many of our on-river communities, and would more than double the water cuts agreed to in the Lower Basin agreement,” Buschatzke said.

CAP delivers Colorado River water to Phoenix, Tucson and tribal communities across the state.

Buschatzke said he is committed to finalizing the Lower Basin agreement, which includes a 30% reduction to Arizona’s Colorado River allotment over the next two years, but insists on more protections for the Lower Basin.

“The Lower Basin agreement demonstrates that we are doing more, but the United States’ decision put the entire burden of sacrifice on the shoulders of three states,” Buschatzke said.

He said he’d like to see an outcome where reductions are shared throughout the entire Colorado River Basin, not disproportionately imposed on the Lower Basin or the state of Arizona.

“No state has sacrificed more,” Buschatzke said of voluntary water conservation in the Colorado River Basin.

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