Arizona Takes Biggest Colorado River Cut as State Challenges Federal Framework

Arizona will surrender 760,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water annually in 2027 and 2028 under new federal operating rules, by far the largest reduction among the three Lower Basin states.

But state officials are already fighting the longer-term framework behind those rules, which mandates future Lower Basin shortages of as much as three million acre-feet (MAF) annually. At Monday’s meeting of the Arizona Reconsultation Committee, Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke called that prospect “a draconian outcome for the state of Arizona.”

The Department of the Interior and Bureau of Reclamation finalized the 2027-28 rules Friday, requiring Arizona, California and Nevada collectively to reduce deliveries by 1.25 million acre-feet each year. Under a shortage-sharing plan previously proposed by the three states, California will account for 440,000 acre-feet of the reduction and Nevada 50,000.

Arizona officials agreed to those short-term reductions. Their objection is what happens beyond them: they contend the federal government is relying too heavily on Lower Basin cuts while failing to require mandatory reductions from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.

“What it boils down to is that Reclamation is focusing exclusively on cutting water supplies to the Lower Basin to protect Glen Canyon Dam,” ADWR spokesman Douglas MacEachern told Arizona Globe.

The new rules govern Colorado River operations at Lake Powell and Lake Mead, where historically low reservoir levels have forced increasingly difficult choices over how states distribute shortages. But the view of the agencies and that of officials on the ground in Arizona couldn’t be more different.

“The combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead have not been this low since before Lake Powell began filling following the closure of the gates at Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, with both Lake Powell and Lake Mead hitting record lows the last few weeks,” the Department of the Interior’s release states. The Colorado River Basin suffers from an “unprecedented” drought going back 26 years, with “historically low runoff and reservoir levels,” it adds.

Arizona’s broader objection is that the federal framework authorizes Lower Basin shortages of up to 3.0 MAF annually while imposing no mandatory Upper Basin reductions. Arizona officials contend that approach ignores Colorado River Compact obligations and relies too heavily on cuts downstream to protect Glen Canyon Dam.

Reclamation’s plan allows an Upper Basin agreement involving upstream reservoirs, but it doesn’t impose the equivalent mandatory state cuts Arizona wants.

 “None of the three Lower Basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada is being treated ‘fairly,’” MacEachern said. “Fairness in this scenario would be for all states that benefit from the system in times of bounty sharing. We are not seeing that sense of fairness playing out today.”

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego was quick to add her voice to those protesting the mishandling of this issue. “The federal government’s decision does not provide the fair, basin-wide leadership the Colorado River crisis demands,” she stated. “Though Phoenix is prepared for this moment because of decades of planning and conservation, we will push for new federal support to mitigate the rising cost of water that will result from this federal decision.”

“The ADWR has submitted multiple letters to the Bureau of Reclamation explaining its failure to consider Compact requirements and other provisions of the Law of the River,” MacEachern said.