Four CA Water Boards, State's Colorado River Authority Commit To 9% Cutback 2023 - 2026

[hatrack]

Last edited Sat Oct 8, 2022, 10:47 AM - Edit history (1)

With the Colorado River in crisis and reservoir levels continuing to decline, some California water agencies are planning to significantly reduce the amount they take from the river starting next year. As a result, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California said they plan to endorse mandatory conservation measures to begin rationing water for cities and local agencies that supply 19 million people across six counties.

California is entitled to use 4.4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year, more than any other state. The water flows through canals to farmlands in Imperial and Riverside counties, and to cities from Los Angeles to San Diego. Four water districts and the state’s Colorado River Board said in a letter to the federal government on Wednesday that they are proposing to reduce water use by up to 400,000 acre-feet per year. That would amount to about 9% of the state’s total water allotment from the river for the next four years, through 2026.

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California’s pledge remains far from the goal set by federal officials, however, and the state’s water agencies will likely continue to receive pressure to accept larger cuts. But managers of California water agencies said they hope their voluntary proposal will help catalyze water-saving contributions by others across the Colorado River Basin to prevent the reservoirs from bottoming out. “Basin states need to put historical differences aside and work together to meet this crisis head-on,” Hamby said.

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Under a 2019 agreement called the Drought Contingency Plan, Arizona and Nevada are preparing for substantial reductions in water allotments next year. Mexico is also seeing reduced deliveries under a separate deal. California has been spared those cuts so far but has agreed to start taking reductions at lower reservoir levels. These previous agreements, including another deal reached last year, haven’t been nearly enough to address the gaping imbalance between supply and demand. Reservoir levels have continued to drop to new lows, threatening hydropower production and even potentially putting at risk the continuing flow of the river downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in the Grand Canyon.

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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-06/southern-california-faces-new-water-restrictions-next-year

[CrispyQ]

1. Seems at some point they're gonna have to sacrifice either Mead or Powell.

???

https://www.glencanyon.org/fill-mead-first/

Flooding Glen Canyon was a crime.