Federal government wants to cut water use in three states

The Hill - The federal government is proposing potentially steep cuts to water used by California, Arizona and Nevada, a major step toward figuring out the management of the dwindling Colorado River.  The river provides water to states throughout the West, including drinking water and water for agricultural, industrial and municipal uses.

As the West becomes drier, figuring out how to manage the shrinking resource has been a challenge.  A final environmental impact statement released Friday by the federal government cuts to California, Arizona and Nevada, collectively known as the Lower Basin states of the Colorado River, of up to 3 million acre-feet per year.

That could be dramatically deeper than the 1.6 million acre-feet per year that the lower basin states themselves have proposed for the next two years.

Arizona’s Department of Water Resources said in a statement that a cut of 3 million acre feet per year “would devastate Arizona’s water users and its economy.”

However, the federal government has yet to release anticipated specific plans for managing the river over the next two years.

The Washington Post reported Friday that the forthcoming two-year plan is more in line with the cuts proposed by the states for the next two years.