The seven Colorado River states have only a few weeks left to submit a comprehensive plan for water management going forward. A new study by UCLA researchers should further inform the negotiations as they enter the late stages.
The states continue to discuss a framework for cooperation over the river’s precious water supply when the current deal expires at the end of 2026.
Conflicts between the upper basin states — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico — and those in the lower basin — Nevada, California and Arizona — have slowed progress. There has also been intra-basin squabbling, particularly involving California, the largest user of the Colorado, and its water-intensive agricultural interests.
An agreement among the states would provide a guideline for federal officials as they seek to replace the Colorado River Compact, first signed in 1922, with a new arrangement.
If the states don’t produce a deal by May, the federal government may impose its own standards that could lead to states, including Nevada, experiencing cuts in their annual allocations from the river.
The discussion would be best served by considering who is doing what to make the most of a scarce resource. Most states have enacted aggressive water conservation programs to some effect. But the UCLA analysis notes that Nevada has accomplished far more than the other six states when it comes to recycling the water it draws from the Colorado.
Nevada reuses 85% of the water it takes out of the river each year. Arizona, the second-largest recycler, reuses 52%. California comes in at just 22%. The report notes that the Golden State could save nearly 1 million acre-feet of water a year — more than three times Nevada’s allocation — by increasing its recycling rate to 30%. Continuing to demand more efficient and prudent use of Colorado River water from the state’s agricultural community would make an even bigger dent.
“Wastewater reuse is one of a suite of practices that we absolutely need to invest in if we’re going to meet these challenges,” Noah Garrison, a UCLA water researcher, told the Review-Journal.
Nevada water officials, dating back years, deserve commendation for creating an essentially closed system that helps Las Vegas and environs stretch its meager Colorado River allocation to accommodate a growing population base.
The vast majority of water consumed here is returned to the river to be drawn again and again. The six other Colorado River states have a long way to go to match Nevada’s progress. That should count for something when federal officials debate cuts to lower-basin states.
