U.S. Bureau of Reclamation backs off on threat of mandatory cuts on imperiled river system. Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will take previously agreed upon reductions next year.
Federal government has threatened mandatory Colorado River cuts if basin states can’t agree by next week on blueprint to slash usageThe agency’s shift in tone didn’t surprise San Diego County Water Authority officials, who expressed little if any concern the federal government could abruptly turn off the spigot. That’s partly because the Imperial Irrigation District, or IID — which supplies the San Diego wholesaler — has some of the highest priority rights on the river.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Reclamation released on Tuesday a dire forecast for water levels at lakes Mead and Powell, which are now collectively at 28 percent of capacity. As a result of the projected water levels, Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will take previously agreed upon cuts. California will narrowly avoid any of the voluntary reductions, which would have been largely shouldered by the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. IID is not subject to any immediate cuts under the current emergency drought agreements.
The crux of the negotiations increasingly appears to revolve around how much the federal government can afford to pay farmers to fallow more land. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law Tuesday, will provide about $4 billion for this and other related efforts.
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