Large Southwestern cities are bracing for cuts to their water supplies after the federal government stepped in last week with a 10-year plan to save the reservoirs on the Colorado River from crashing.
Of the seven states that draw water from the river, none is likely to feel the impact more than Arizona.
“We are very upset,” said Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. “The Department of Interior’s plan forces Arizona, and Central Arizona in particular, to take so much of these cuts.”
The exact size of those cuts will be determined in the days and weeks ahead. Under the new guidelines, rules to manage the river will be revisited every two years.
But water deliveries to the downstream states of Arizona, California and Nevada could fall by up to 40%.
Gallego said the price of water for the city’s nearly 2 million residents will increase as supply becomes more scarce.
“We will have to go out and look for additional supplies, which may not be as cost effective,” she said. “We know, when costs rise, people do tend to use less water.”
Phoenix, a sprawling desert city, has prepared for a day like this.
The city gets about 40% of its water from the Colorado River. But as that figure drops, it has to rely more on other sources like groundwater.
The city is also building advanced water purification plants to convert wastewater into tap water.
Gallego said Phoenix has a diverse water supply. But people living here are concerned. “In recent public opinion polling, it was the No. 1 issue,” she said.
The seven states that use the river couldn’t figure out how to share its supply during times of extreme drought, so the federal government had to intervene.
Climate change and overuse put pressure on the river. Water levels at Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border are so low that hydropower production could stop early next year.
Under the government’s new 10-year plan, those lower-basin states that use the most water would shoulder all the cuts. In the upper basin, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado would be spared.
“Arizona is taking the largest reductions,” said Brenda Burman, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, an entity that moves Colorado River water through a system of canals more than 300 miles from its source to cities like Phoenix and Tucson. It serves nearly 7 million people.
“California is doing its part. Nevada is doing its part,” Burman said. “But you know who hasn’t? Our neighbors upstream.”
With junior rights compared to other big water users, CAP could lose every drop in the worst-case scenario “down to zero,” said Burman, also a former commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. “That is absolutely, fundamentally flawed.”
Empty canals in the Phoenix area are unlikely, for now.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said last week that the new guidelines give the government a range of options to respond to changing conditions on the river. He said there’s still time for the states to come up with a plan of their own. But if the past is any indication, that may not happen. Upper basin states say they already use far less water than they’re entitled to.
In the meantime, Arizona cities aren’t banking on a breakthrough.
“It’s not an emergency, I want to be clear on that,” said Mark Freeman, mayor of Mesa.
Mesa is the state’s third-most populous city and it gets more than half of its water from the Colorado River. Freeman expects supplies to drop by 20%.
Mesa made a deal with the Gila River Indian Community to exchange treated wastewater for a bigger share of the river.
And, like Phoenix, the city will tap into the ground.
“We have well sites that we’re preparing to drill today,” Freeman said. “We have underground water banking so that water resource is like a savings account. We have been preparing for that for decades, knowing that this time may come.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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