A single irrigation district in California, along the Mexican border, takes more water from the Colorado River than all of Arizona and Nevada. It's under pressure to use less.
of the river's water, which include farmers and cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, to come up with a plan to cut their water use.at Arizona State University, says the Imperial Irrigation District is now at the center of these negotiations.
In reality, nobody really expects cities to get cut off completely. The farmers say they understand that people need water for health and safety – although maybe not for swimming pools and lawns. According to Porter, some legal experts believe that the federal Bureau of Reclamation has the authority simply to order a reduction in water deliveries from reservoirs like Lake Mead to agricultural irrigation districts. Farmers, however, would almost certainly challenge such an order in court.draft plan
Steve Benson says a further cut of 20 percent is feasible, but it does involve costs. Farmers could buy new, more water-efficient irrigation equipment. Irrigation canals that are currently simple ditches in the dirt could be lined with concrete, to prevent water from seeping into the ground. Farmers also could reduce the amount of land planted in crops, especially alfalfa and grasses, which get baled into hay to feed cattle or horses.
John Hernandez, a Mexican-American activist, says that there's also a question of fairness if most of the money that the irrigation district gets for using less water – potentially hundreds of millions of dollars each year – gets passed out to just a few hundred farms.
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