The governor and lawmakers celebrated passage of the Drought Contingency Plan bills as a “historic” moment that showed the state could work together to head off drastic water shortfalls on the Colorado River.

House Democrats are balking at ratifying a proposed drought contingency plan over what they see as a key missing element.

State legislators will have mere weeks to pass a complex Colorado River drought plan by Jan. 31 — the deadline imposed by federal officials.

Gov. Doug Ducey threatened Tuesday to veto any drought contingency plan that does not equitably divide up the pain of Arizona having less water in 2020 and eventually leads to lower water use in the state.

Gov. Doug Ducey vowed Thursday to work with the state Legislature to allocate $30 million to water mitigation efforts so the state can sign onto a multi-state plan to stabilize water levels in Lake Mead, which could soon face a water shortage.

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.

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 get to a more sustainable future for the Colorado River basin.

As a native Arizonan, I implore you to put aside your differences and return to the table in a reenergized effort to do all we can to protect Lake Mead.

Arizona has a long history of arriving at such solutions with future generations in mind. We have a rich, legacy of coming together where our water resources are concerned. Arizonans expect us to follow in this tradition -- and they expect us to act now.

The governor and his staff are playing an integral role in bringing Arizona water interests together to reach an internal state agreement on the drought-contingency plan.