The historical narrative of the Colorado River focuses on how to address the rapid economic development in the Lower Basin relative to the pace of economic development in the Upper Basin. The economic recovery of Colorado River Basin states from the COVID-19 disruption will turn the historical narrative on its head.
Hydrowonk attended the Colorado River Water Users Association in Las Vegas, catching up with clients at Thursday’s Percolation and Runoff reception. Running with senior water right users, Hydrowonk heard many complaints about this year’s panels barely mentioning the priority system. One wise observer noted that “this was a meeting of the Colorado River (Junior) Water Users Association.”
Yesterday, former Arizona Governor and Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt called for the immediate implementation of Tier 3 curtailments under the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan (“DCP”) in an opinion piece in The Arizona Republic, Feds should declare a Tier 3 water shortage on the Colorado River (azcentral.com). Governor Babbitt is advocating this action in the face of inaction by Colorado River parties, including the federal government.
The Bureau of Reclamation’s first response to the failure of Colorado River Basin states to propose a plan to reduce the use of Colorado River water by 2 million acre-feet to 4 million acre-feet per year is to recognize evaporation and system losses in the Colorado River system, including the Lower Basin. Channeling the late management guru Peter Drucker, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”