A two-decade-long megadrought along the Colorado River is pushing seven Western states and parts of Mexico into a formal shortage declaration, forcing water delivery cuts to the Southwest
Academics, environmentalists and climate researchers say that elected officials must face politically unpalatable possibilities head on: There simply isn’t enough water for new pipeline and reservoir projects in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, despite the promise made to those upper basin states a century ago under the foundational 1922 Colorado River Compact.
But close river watchers say they see a dearth of political will for confronting the tough future possibilities among the key players, particularly in the upper basin. Now, one of the most crucial questions facing the states and water managers is how dire of a future the new rules should plan for.Entsminger, who will be at the negotiating table as general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Meanwhile, a major legal question looms over the river regarding who bears the brunt of reduced flows due to climate change. It has been avoided so far because, even during the past two decades of drought, the amount of unused water in the upper basin has just barely matched the amount of water that that needs to be sent downstream to Nevada, Arizona, California and Mexico.
But, by and large, water managers prefer to work within the system that already exists — even as they recognize the assumptions on which it is based will no longer hold true in the drier future. “We know that, this is a fact, we have to deal with it. But it doesn’t mean knock over everything we’ve built and start over with something else, because, fundamentally that involves a lot of taking. That will take things from people,” he said.
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