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With the Colorado River’s largest reservoir just 38% full and declining toward the threshold of a first-ever shortage, Arizona water officials convened an online meeting this week to outline how the state will deal with water cutbacks, saying the reductions will be “painful” but plans are in place to lessen the blow for affected farmers next year.
Lake Mead’s decline is expected to trigger substantial reductions in water deliveries in 2022 for Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. The largest of those cuts will affect Arizona, slashing its Colorado River supplies by 512,000 acre-feet, about a fifth of its total entitlement.
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Water Supplies in U S West & Mexico Projected to Fall
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Water Supplies in U.S. West & Mexico Projected to Fall
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation s 24-month study has projected that the lakes that store water used throughout the American West will fall to historically low levels and may even trigger an official shortage declaration for the first time.
The lakes that store water and supply millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months, according to The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s 24-month projections, reported ABC News.
According to the results, there is a very high likelihood of Tier 1 reductions in 2022 and 2023 and an increasing risk of Tier 2 conditions in the near future. This would require Arizona to reduce uses by a total of 512,000 acre-feet. Based on the projections, less Colorado River water will cascade down from the Rocky Mountains through Lake Powell and Lake Mead and into the deserts of the U.S. Southwest and the Gulf of California.
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The numbers show Lake Mead is likely to drop below 1075 (one thousand seventy-five) feet in elevation later this year. That triggers a “Tier 1” shortage under the rules of the Drought Contingency Plan.
Arizona takes the brunt of the shortage, losing more than five hundred thousand acre-feet of water, or about a third of the Central Arizona Project’s supply. The canal brings water to Tucson and Phoenix, but the cuts will largely affect farmers.
The Colorado River is currently in “Tier Zero” status, which requires Arizona to leave nearly two hundred-thousand-acre feet of water in Lake Mead.
A joint statement from the Central Arizona Project and Arizona Department of Water Resources says the state is prepared for the cuts, because “water users have been working collaboratively for many years to protect our Colorado River water supply.”