Feds Eye New Cuts to Water Use From Dwindling Colorado River: Report

The Bureau of Reclamation is expected to lay out new rules affecting how much water states can use from the Colorado River this week. The expected slate of fresh cuts on water usage for 2024 will affect Arizona and Nevada, as well as the two states in northern Mexico that rely in part on the Colorado — but unlike past reductions in usage, these cuts will be less dramatic in scope according to reporting from the AP.

After years of discussion and wrangling, the seven states of the Colorado River Compact reached a tentative agreement on water use cuts in May. That agreement, which will still likely be finalized and take effect after next year, will divvy up the brunt of the cuts between the lower basin states — Arizona, Nevada and the river's biggest user, California.

For now though, an extremely snowy and wet winter has somewhat replenished the river's major reservoirs, Lakes Mead and Powell.

The AP reports that the new rules will essentially reinstate previous years' plans, with Arizona seeing an 18% reduction in total water allocation and Nevada seeing a 5% cut. In this scenario, California will not have to cut Colorado River water usage at all.

This year's wet weather has eased the dire need to conserve Colorado water. But experts do not expect the system to recover in the near future.

The river, which gives water to more than 40 million people, will face further drought and rising temperatures as the climate warms. Ultimately, how its water is used will have to change to stop its reservoirs from drying up entirely.