Some water officials in Arizona are taking a step to take legal action the federal government over allocation of Colorado River water.
A unanimous vote from the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board on Thursday, Sept. 3 directed the board’s general counsel and staff “to take legal action if necessary” on the issue. The board oversees the Central Arizona Project, which delivers Arizona’s share of Colorado River water to the Phoenix and Tucson regions.
Nevada and water agencies in the state have already brought a lawsuit against the federal government. Alexandra Arboleda, vice president of the CAWCD board, said CAP could join Nevada’s lawsuit, begin its own lawsuit or perhaps join another lawsuit if one is to come forward.
“Such action may include filing for intervention in the Nevada litigation or other related litigation or to initiate independent litigation relating to the record of decision or the law of the river,” Arboleda said.
The Central Arizona Project canal Arizona’s share of Colorado River water to the Phoenix and Tucson regions.
(Courtesy Central Arizona Project)
Greg Adams, senior attorney for the Central Arizona Project, called Nevada’s lawsuit “extremely significant litigation” and said it “came as a surprise” to everyone he had talked to in the Lower Basin when it was announced on Aug. 24.
The agency that would be in charge of suing on behalf of the state of Arizona is the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Other agencies like CAP or individual cities and towns can take their own legal action or potentially join forces.
The agreement for how to divide water between the seven states that share Colorado River water expires at the end of this year. Historic drought has meant less water to go around.
Last month, the federal government finalized a 10-year framework of how to share water between the seven Colorado River basin states as well as 2027-28 operating guidelines.
The agreement requires steep cuts among the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada while requiring none for the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. There are several different possibilities of the cuts under the plan, with drier years bringing more severe cuts to the Lower Basin.
The federal government’s plan “contemplates operations that are contrary to law and devastating to the water users of the Central Arizona Project and do not require any cuts to the Upper Basin water users,” Arboleda said on Sept. 3.
During an Aug. 27 meeting of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association board of directors, AMWUA Water Policy Adviser Paul Bergelin gave an overview of Nevada’s lawsuit against the federal government.
“The focus of the concerns is that in developing its plan for the 10 years of Colorado River operations, the Bureau of Reclamation adopted a flawed process. And because its process was flawed, the outcomes are flawed, too,” Bergelin told the board.
The lawsuit has three chief complaints. The first is that the federal government’s operating guidelines do not take into account all of the laws applicable to Colorado River water supply, “notably, including the Upper Basin’s obligation to deliver a certain volume of water to the Lower Basin,” Bergelin said.
Under Colorado River Compact of 1922, the Upper Basin states must allow 75 million acre-feet flow to the Lower Basin states over a 10-year period. A 2012 update expanded that to add an annual allocation to flow to Mexico. A rough equation of where the new obligation is around 82.5 million acre-feet over 10 years, as presented at an Arizona water meeting earlier this year.
At that meeting in February, ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke indicated the state could bring a lawsuit forward if that obligation under the 1922 agreement is not met.
The second chief complaint of Nevada’s lawsuit is a claim that the Bureau of Reclamation didn’t consider a reasonable range of alternatives, including the one the Lower Basin states recommended to it.
The third chief complaint consider all foreseeable environmental or socio-economic impacts from their action, including the impacts that cutting Nevada’s water supply by up to 70% would have on the greater Las Vegas area. Arizona and city of Phoenix water officials raised similar concerns at meetings earlier in the year, saying the federal government did not do adequate economic forecasting of how water cuts would impact Arizona. Any negative impacts on Arizona would have a ripple effect to the rest of the U.S., they said.
AMWUA shares all three of the chief criticisms in the Nevada and has stated as much in official comments to the Bureau of Reclamation, Bergelin said.
Nevada’s lawsuit asks the courts to pause the implementation of the federal government’s water sharing plan for the river until the suit is settled. However, Bergelin said there is silver lining for Arizona in at least the 2027-28 operation guidelines, which included more input from the Lower Basin states on how to split up cuts to water supply. He feared if an injunction was placed on the operating guidelines, whatever plan is legally defaulted to instead could be worse.
Phoenix Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington, who sits on the AMWUA board and is a lawyer, said she wasn’t sure if AMWUA or other Arizona water agencies should join Nevada’s lawsuit, or perhaps they could join it but state they are against an injunction.
“I understand Nevada’s concern, but I don’t necessarily know if it serves our purpose,” Hodge Washington said during the Aug. 27 board meeting. “…Would Arizona joining just make it worse?”
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Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Phoenix
mcarlisle@iniusa.org
Meet Mark
Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.
Community: Mark enjoys taking his two young sons to parks, the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Public Library and other fun events around the Valley. He also participates in a local book club.
Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.
Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.
Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, sons and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.
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