A bipartisan pair of Western senators wants to extend a large-scale water recycling program through 2032, in a bid to extend water supplies in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin.
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) and Utah Sen. John Curtis (R) on Tuesday introduced the “Large-Scale Water Recycling Reauthorization Act,” to extend a five-year program created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021.
The proposal comes as the seven Colorado River Basin states struggle to reach agreement over future operations of their waterway, which supports some 40 million individuals and 5.5 million acres of farmland.
The current operating plan, along with a series of short-term agreements among the states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — to reduce water use, expires this year. A new plan must be in place by Oct. 1, which marks the start of the 2027 water year.
