The Trump administration is preparing a plan to manage the drought-stricken Colorado River over the next decade that could slash by a third the amount of water delivered to Arizona, California and Nevada, Arizona’s lead negotiator said Wednesday.
Without an agreement among the seven states that share the West’s most important river, the Interior Department is preparing to release its final plan in late June, Tom Buschatzke, director of Arizona’s Department of Water Resources, told a meeting of his state’s water users.
The plan would cut water deliveries to farms, cities and tribes in the downstream states by as much as 3 million acre-feet per year and would be applied using the legal system that prioritizes the oldest users, Buschatzke said.
That approach would put the brunt of the cuts on central Arizona communities, industries and tribes that get their water through the 336-mile-long canal system that delivers Colorado River water to Phoenix, Tucson and surrounding communities.
