6 states backed Colorado River plan; Arizona faces deadline

Arizona is facing a deadline to become the last of several states in the U.S. West to approve a plan ensuring shared water from the Colorado River doesn’t dry up for millions of farmers, cities, tribes and developers that depend on it. The other six states have agreed to plans that recognize a long-running drought, the dwindling supply of water and how they intend to cope with it. Arizona’s plan has broad support but hasn’t been approved by the Legislature, a factor that has made the negotiations on the drought contingency plan more complex. No other state required lawmakers to sign off. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation expects an agreement from all seven states Thursday. If the deadline isn’t met, the agency will ask the states to weigh in on how the overtaxed river water should be allocated ahead of a projected shortage in August. Without a consensus plan, the federal agency has said it will make the rules. “To date, Interior is very supportive and extremely patient with the pace of progress” of the drought contingency plan, the agency said in a statement. “The delay increases the risk for us all.” The deadline requires only that the states sign off on the drought plan for the river that serves 40 million people in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. There is no legal requirement to figure out exactly how states will live up to the reductions outlined. Under existing guidelines, Arizona would be first hit and hardest if Lake Mead, on the state’s border with Nevada, falls below 1,075 feet (328 meters). That’s because Arizona has the lowest priority rights to the river. If the drought plan is approved, cuts would be spread more widely and eventually loop in California. Mexico also has agreed to cutbacks...MORE