Nevada, 2 others to agree to voluntary cutbacks of Colorado River water

Three states and the national authorities are expected to motion an statement Wednesday that volition slash h2o usage from Lake Mead implicit the adjacent 2 years, portion of an effort to forestall the reservoir from falling to a critically debased level.

Nevada, California and Arizona volition articulation the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation successful signing the alleged “500+ plan,” a caller effort to buoy Lake Mead’s elevation by astir 16 feet implicit the adjacent 2 years.

The little basin states volition transportation successful $100 cardinal for the program and the national authorities volition perpetrate different $100 million.

Nevada volition lend $20 cardinal to the plan, but has nary further conservation projects connected platform to deed the extremity of leaving 500,000 acre-feet successful Lake Mead per twelvemonth successful 2022 and 2023, Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager John Entsminger said.

One acre-foot of h2o is capable to screen an country astir the size of a shot tract successful 1 ft of water. It is astir what 2 Las Vegas Valley homes usage implicit the people of 16 months.

The statement comes conscionable months aft the national authorities declared a h2o shortage for Lake Mead, a determination that slashes Nevada and Arizona’s allocation of water.

Between that declaration and a 2019 drought effect agreement, Nevada’s allocation of h2o adjacent twelvemonth volition instrumentality a 21,000 acre-foot cut.

Before Wednesday’s agreement, Arizona, Nevada and Mexico were scheduled to chopped backmost their h2o usage by 613,000 acre-feet successful 2022, with the bulk of that, 512,000 acre feet, coming from Arizona. The 500+ program tacks connected further reductions.

The h2o level projections that led to the shortage declaration connected the water besides triggered a proviso successful the 2019 drought program that forced the little basin to sermon ways to forestall Lake Mead from falling beneath the captious elevation of 1,020 feet. Wednesday’s statement came from those negotiations.

Lake level is measured successful elevation supra oversea level, not depth. Lake Mead’s elevation connected Wednesday was 1,065 feet, leaving the reservoir astatine 34 percent full.

Addressing league attendees Wednesday morning, Entsminger did not shy distant from confronting the grim world the Colorado River faces.

“In 2021, h2o was scarce and symptom was plentiful,” helium said.

Entsminger called the concern successful the Colorado River Basin a sobering moment, and emphasized an “all hands connected deck” attack to addressing challenges.

According to h2o level projections the national authorities released Wednesday, little basin states could look deeper federally mandated cuts arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2023.

This is simply a processing story. Check backmost for updates.

Contact Blake Apgar astatine bapgar@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar connected Twitter.