'The river has changed and the West has changed. It’s time for the rules to change and time for the Basin States to get to work.'
The Colorado River’s Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada have agreed to save water and have sent their proposal to the Federal government. During the next three years, the states will refrain from using 3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water in exchange for $1.2 billion in Federal funding.The Lower Basin states have done what they know how to do: Kick the can down the road.
People are also reading… All the Basin States have had plenty of warnings that over-use, bad management, drought and climate change would bring us to this point.Many government officials have excused their inaction, like the cocaine addict who sings in the blues song, “The doctor says it’ll kill me, but he won’t say when.” But here, the addiction is to the fantasy of unlimited water.
There will be less water in the future. Old-fashioned water laws, including the first-in-time-first-in-right rule, fixed allocations and traditional notions of beneficial use, are no way to manage the Colorado River in the 21st century. Fear of running out of water should motivate change. Lawsuits from disgruntled users should not stand in the way.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation continues to provide superb modeling and other technical advice to the Basin States.The river has changed, and the West has changed. It’s time for the rules to change and time for the Basin States to get to work.
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