Power plant closures to bring water reallocation
Thousands of acre-feet of water from the Colorado River and state groundwater will no longer be used at Arizona coal plants after the four plants shut down by 2032, leaving resources to be redistributed among the states using the Colorado River basin.
Water-short cities want to use every last drop – even if it used to be sewage
In the Western U.S., there’s more demand for water than there is supply, so cities with finite water supplies are finding creative new ways to stretch out the water they already have. For some, that means cleaning up sewage and putting it right back in the pipes that flow to homes and businesses.
Feds announce start of public process to reshape key rules on Colorado River water use by 2027
A public process started Thursday to reshape the way Colorado River water is distributed, with federal officials promising to collect comments about updating and enacting rules in 2027 to continue providing hydropower, drinking water and irrigation to farms, cities and tribes in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico.
Recent snowfalls may slow water level decline at Lake Mead
Hefty snowfalls that fed the Colorado River in recent weeks may slow the water level decline of Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border, according to some experts.
Page wary of crisis on the Colorado River
As the once-mighty Colorado shrinks in the hands of a changing climate, communities that rely on it are starting to feel the pinch. Many large cities in the Southwest are well-positioned to weather the growing crisis, but some smaller ones have a perilous front row seat as the diminished river threatens to cut off their water supply completely. Page is one of them.
It’s time for Legislature to protect water for all Arizonans
It’s time for state leaders to entrust rural groundwater management to the rural Arizonans whose lives and livelihoods depend on it.
Next step? Make AZ a strong voice among Colorado River states
It didn’t take long for the completion of the Drought Contingency Plan to create value to Arizona and the Colorado River Basin.
Arizona’s drought plan offers key lessons for the road ahead
rizona will need to bring the same quality of leadership and creative problem-solving that produced the DCP success story when water stakeholders resume work on the other pillars of a sustainable water future: protecting groundwater in both urban and rural areas, starting the regional process of re-negotiating the 2007 Interim Guidelines, and finding collaborative ways of conserving water while b[...]
Feds to Arizona, California: Drought plan not complete
Despite much fanfare over Arizona’s Legislature passing and Gov. Doug Ducey signing drought plan legislation Thursday, the Department of the Interior is stepping in because federal officials say the drought plan isn’t done.
No Arizona drought plan in sight as deadline looms
After months of drought plan negotiations and as the deadline for Arizona to produce an internal agreement on water reductions nears, the state’s water interests have nothing to show for their efforts yet.
Ducey, Babbitt lead the way on water conservation
I applaud Governor Ducey’s and former Governor Babbitt’s public statements of support for Arizona’s adoption of the drought contingency plans (DCP), expressed last week. Arizona’s water future depends on careful conservation, management, and collaboration to ensure that all of our communities are able to plan well into the future. This leadership is a valuable and essential part of how we [...]
CAP celebrates 50 years since landmark legislation
As the Central Arizona Project celebrates the 50th anniversary of the federal act that authorized the massive water project, Arizona is still locked in complicated conversations about how the state will move forward on water issues.