Overview
- The U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Reclamation will release a Final Environmental Impact Statement this week that identifies the federal government’s preferred post-2026 operating rules for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
- Both reservoirs are at record low levels and Lake Powell is within roughly 33 feet of the threshold that would stop hydroelectric generation and hinder water release through Glen Canyon Dam.
- After more than three years of stalled talks among the seven basin states, federal officials are preparing to impose a framework that could call for cuts substantially larger than the states’ voluntary 1.6 million acre-feet proposal.
- Cities across the Southwest are accelerating conservation, reuse and desalination projects while the Interior has contacted users about extending past federal contracts and governors have submitted a menu of projects for possible federal cost-sharing.
- Most river water goes to agriculture, so deeper cuts would hinge on farmer participation or federal compensation and could trigger litigation from states with junior water rights, notably Arizona, which has set aside funds for legal challenges.