Arizona moves to join Nevada's lawsuit over federal Colorado River plan

The Arizona Department of Water Resources announced Friday that Arizona filed a motion to intervene in Nevada's lawsuit challenging the federal decision on Colorado River water allocation, the Deseret News reported. The lawsuit, brought with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, asks the court to block the decision until what it calls legal and technical shortcomings are resolved. ^[1] The Arizona governor's office said Friday that the state intervened to hold the federal government accountable for what it called a failure to enforce Upper Basin water delivery obligations to Lake Mead. ^[4]

Arizona department Director Tom Buschatzke said the state believes the federal framework ignores basic elements of the law of the river and could cut Arizona's apportionment in ways that would devastate its economy. Under the sharing agreement referenced in the federal guidelines, Arizona's share of the Lower Basin reduction would be 760,000 acre-feet a year, roughly 27% of its allocation. Buschatzke said the cuts could effectively dry up the Central Arizona Project and that the federal decision puts the burden of sacrifice on three states. He said joining the suit gives Arizona a seat at the table if the case moves forward, and that litigation was never the preferred path. ^[1]

The Interior Department decision, released Aug. 21, would set guidelines for 2027 through 2028 while states return to negotiations on a longer-term deal. The four Upper Basin states, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming, face no mandatory reductions and are subject to voluntary conservation goals. The three Lower Basin states, Arizona, California and Nevada, face reductions of 1.25 million acre-feet in each of the two years under the Interior guidelines. If the states implement their proposed sharing agreement, Arizona would take 760,000 acre-feet (about 61%), California 440,000 (about 35%) and Nevada 50,000 (about 4%). Arizona's governor's office says the federal decisions could result in cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet a year to the Lower Basin if Upper Basin deliveries are not required. ^[4][5] Buschatzke told the Deseret News Arizona has not yet begun negotiating with Upper Basin states since August. ^[1]

The report said Lake Powell, which sits between Utah and Arizona, is dropping about 3 to 4 feet a month and could stop generating electricity. ^[1]