Add The California Post on Google California will significantly reduce water intake from the Colorado River in a new plan set in place by the Trump administration.
Trump released a long-awaited ten-year plan Friday outlining how to deal with dropping water levels in the southwestern U.S. river, which has pitted farms against cities and multiple states against each other.
California relies heavily on the Colorado River to supply roughly one-third of all water for Southern California’s cities and suburbs, as well as irrigation for millions of acres of farmland.
The Colorado River Getty Images “California has the biggest stake on the Colorado River,” JB Hamby, Colorado River Board of California chairman, previously said.
The Trump plan deals with quarrels between the upstream states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, and the downstream states of California, Arizona and Nevada. The latter group relies on reservoirs and argued they’ve already cut back water usage, while the former said any water restrictions could block future economic development and growth.
Rising temperatures and drought over the past years have only intensified the river’s unhealthy condition and a bitter fight over who should accept the mandatory water cuts.
The new plan’s answer is to shoulder more of the burden onto the downstream states, at least for now. The Lower Basin states could face collective cuts up to 130 billion cubic feet — which could serve 25 million people a year — through 2036.
“This framework provides the flexibility to respond to changing hydrologic conditions while preserving the opportunity for the Basin States to continue working toward durable, consensus-based solutions,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a press release.
Trump administration brokers water plan for the Colorado River. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin The proposal did not have critical details, however, including the amounts of water it would allow to flow downstream under varying river conditions.
Officials say California will cut its use of Colorado River water by about 12% through 2028. Arizona will take about 31% less and Nevada 28% less. Water management decisions will be made every two years under the ten-year plan.
The Post reached out to the California Department of Water Resources for comment.
The state of Arizona has already lambasted the plan.
“Inequitable, federally imposed cuts to our Colorado River water allocation will be unacceptable to Arizonans, and will put every American at risk,” said Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D).
