The federal government laid out two options for preventing the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs from falling to critically low levels.
Colorado River in Crisis is a series of stories, videos and podcasts in which Los Angeles Times journalists travel throughout the river’s watershed, from the headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to the river’s dry delta in Mexico.
Under a second alternative, the Bureau of Reclamation would analyze the effects of reductions “distributed in the same percentage” for all water users in the three Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada. Both of these alternatives would call for progressively larger reductions as the level of Lake Mead declines. The total amount of potential cuts in 2024, including reductions under existing agreements, could reach slightly more than 2 million acre-feet — which would be a major reduction from the three states’ total apportionment of 7.5 million acre-feet.
He pointed out that in the middle of the 23 years of drought, there have been wet years, such as 2011, followed by a return to dry conditions. The heavy snow this winter, he said, may push “the curve out six months or more.” The proposals also should provide “bookends” to help in ongoing talks among the seven states that rely on the river about additional voluntary conservation measures, Beaudreau said.
Whatever option the federal government decides to choose, much will depend on reservoir levels over the next three years.
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