The lowering of water restrictions on the Colorado River next year marks a significant breakthrough following an above-average winter snowfall. The extra precipitation has amplified the water levels at the nation’s two biggest reservoirs, as stated by the US Bureau of Reclamation.
Lake Mead and the Lower Colorado River are now designated to operate under a Tier 1 water shortage in 2024, implying water cutbacks for Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico. Although this is a significant betterment compared to the unprecedented Tier 2 shortfall this year, it illustrates the persisting drought's impact on the Southwest and the climate crisis's consequent effect on regional water resources.
“A Tier 1 shortage is still very much a shortage,” commented Brenda Burman, general manager of the Central Arizona Project. As an official responsible for Phoenix's water supply - which has borne the brunt of the past two years' water reductions - Burman asserts that this improvement indicates how beneficial a rainy year can be.
Arizona Department of Water Resources officials revealed their plan to refrain from using the extra water next year in order to stabilize water levels in Lake Mead. Nonetheless, Arizona will still experience a reduction, dismissing roughly 18% of its water supply under the Tier 1 shortage, a decrease from 21% this year.
Earlier this year, Arizona, California, and Nevada agreed to voluntarily reduce water usage, a landmark decision supplemented by federal funding. The Bureau of Reclamation declared that these endeavors will result in Lake Mead's downstream water release being the lowest in thirty years, conserving 1.5 million acre-feet of water in the reservoir.
Bureau Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton stated that despite minor relief, the stubborn drought, intensified by climate change, increases the urgency for revising the Colorado River management strategy. "The two largest reservoirs in the United States, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, remain at historically low levels,” Touton said.
However, federal projections suggest that water levels for Mead and Powell are unlikely to fall below critical levels over the next two years. This creates an opportunity for officials to discuss a new agreement for Colorado River distribution among the dependent seven states post the current interstate agreement lapsing in 2026.
According to Bill Hasencamp, the manager of Colorado River Resources for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, there should also be a concentrated effort on maintaining unity among the seven basin states. He expressed, "It’s not easy, there are different viewpoints, but I think we’ll get there. We need to get there.”
States are also actively working to decrease their annual water usage as part of the discussions with the federal government, aiming towards a more planned and implementable reduction. In the meantime, officials continue to negotiate contracts with large water users on the river to incentivize reduced usage with federal funding passed in the Inflation Reduction Act.
