Colorado River states applaud historic pact

Plan addresses drought, storage

By Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 14, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

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Facing the prospect of a drier future, Colorado and six other Western states reached a historic agreement Thursday to share Colorado River water in times of shortage, to collaborate on conservation projects and to keep more water in reserve to combat drought.

"This is the most important agreement among the seven basin states since the original Colorado River Compact of 1922," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who signed the landmark drought plan Thursday in Las Vegas at the annual meeting of the Colorado River Water Users Association.

More than 750 water officials packed the convention hall at Caesar's Palace for the signing ceremony and gave Kempthorne a standing ovation.

"It means our water future is a little more secure," said Ted Kowalski, a member of the Colorado team negotiating the pact. "It's also a huge step forward in managing water more efficiently."

The Front Range relies on the Colorado River for roughly half of its drinking water.

Without the plan, Colorado cities risked having to give up water so that cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles would have enough, as was required under the 1922 compact.

1999 drought lingers

The drought plan calls for joint management of Lake Powell and Lake Mead so that both rise and fall together in dry and wet years. In the past, they were managed separately, a situation that caused Lake Powell to drop to its lowest levels ever in 2003.

Neither of the giant reservoirs has fully recovered from the drought that began in 1999. Both remain just under half full.

The plan sets up triggers for restricting water use in Nevada, Arizona and California. If Lake Mead drops dangerously low, the three states will have to dramatically reduce their water use, something that hasn't occurred before because they are legally entitled to a fixed amount of water under the 1922 compact, even in a dry year.

Upper Basin states - Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico - have always cut back in dry years because they operate under a different rule, one that gives them a percentage of the water that's available in any given year, rather than a fixed amount.

Colorado, for instance, is entitled to 51.75 percent of the river's annual supplies, an amount that varies dramatically depending on each year's snowpack.

The plan also calls for farm lands to be fallowed in Arizona and California so cities can buy the saved water from farmers in dry years.

And it lays the groundwork for improving water delivery systems in the Lower Basin to make them more efficient.

"This is a huge step forward in terms of resolving outstanding conflicts between water users," said Mike Cohen, a senior associate at the Pacific Institute who monitors and researches Colorado River issues.

"It gives us a lot of ways to wring more water out of the system."

Drought plan needed

Since the drought began, the basin states have known they needed a drought plan, but no one could agree on the details.

In 2005, frustrated at the failure of the states to write a plan, then-Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton launched an independent federal process to craft one, which culminated in the deal signed Thursday.

Driving the process is the knowledge that the river has less water than the 1922 compact envisioned, perhaps just 13.5 million to 15 million acre feet, instead of the 16 million to 17 million acre feet on which the compact is based. Climate change is likely to reduce that even more.

As stream flows have shrunk, populations have continued to soar, making it clear that the river can't sustain the relentless demands on its system.

Even with this drought plan, water officials are deeply worried about the future of the river. Many believe if the drought deepens, shortages will crop up by 2011, if not sooner.

smithj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5474

Drought plan highlights

Upper Basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada): Will now be able to store more water in Lake Powell during droughts, protecting recreation and power generation. There will be less chance that fast-growing cities, such as Las Vegas, will come after this region's share of the Colorado River.

Lower Basin states (Nevada, Arizona, California): Will be forced to take less water from Lake Mead during drought, but will be allowed to store any extra water they can save to help combat drought, something they haven't been able to do under the 1922 Colorado River Compact. Will also have more flexibility to share water and to do large-scale water-sharing deals between farmers and cities.

Mexico: The impacts are evolving, but formal talks are under way among the U.S., Mexico and the seven states to find opportunities for joint water conservation projects and to determine how much less water Mexico will take when the drought plan is operating.

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