Metropolitan Board Approves Drought Contingency Plan to Keep Colorado River Supplies Flowing to Southern California
December 11, 2018
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Facing the impending threat of Colorado River reservoirs reaching
critically low levels, the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water
District today approved a sweeping plan among seven states to ensure the
river will continue to provide a reliable supply of water to Southern
California and the Southwest in the coming decade.
The Colorado River is a crucial supply for cities and farms across the
Southwest, providing about 25 percent of the water used in the
Southland. Nearly 20 years of drought, climate change and growing
demands have caused river flows and storage levels in the system’s two
largest reservoirs – Lake Mead and Lake Powell – to drop dramatically.
The Drought Contingency Plan approved today by Metropolitan is an effort
by the basin states that rely on the river to keep the reservoirs from
reaching critically low levels that would trigger severe delivery cuts,
threaten power generation at Hoover and Parker dams, and prevent
Metropolitan from accessing conserved water it has stored in Lake Mead.
“Without action, it is not a matter of if, but when Lake Mead will drop
so low that all its users will be harmed,” board Chairman Randy Record
said. “We simply can’t allow that to happen. This supply is too
important to the people, farms and businesses of Southern California and
the nation. We have been working for more than three years across
sectors and states to negotiate this solution.”
Under the plan, which still needs approval from several agencies and
Congress, the Lower Colorado River Basin states of California, Arizona
and Nevada agree to store defined volumes of water in Lake Mead, largely
through conservation, if the lake reaches certain levels.
California would make storage contributions if Lake Mead’s elevation
drops to 1,045 feet above sea level, 33 feet below its current level of
1,078. Those contributions – 200,000-350,000 acre-feet a year – would be
shared by Metropolitan, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Imperial
Irrigation District and Coachella Valley Water District.
Arizona and Nevada, which have lower priority rights to Colorado River
water, would begin making storage contributions immediately. If Lake
Mead’s level recovers, much of the storage contributions would be
returned to each agency. (An acre foot of water is nearly 326,000
gallons, about the amount used by three typical Southern California
households a year.)
For the Upper Colorado River Basin states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and
New Mexico, the DCP establishes tools already used in the Lower Basin,
including water banking and reservoir management, to maintain higher
levels in Lake Powell.
The DCP builds on a 2007 agreement, negotiated when the Colorado River
was in its seventh year of drought, which attempted to address declining
Mead and Powell reservoir levels. The drought has since stretched into
its 18th year, and conditions have deteriorated far more than
anticipated in 2007. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the risk of
Lake Mead reaching critically low elevations has increased from 10
percent then to more than 45 percent today, requiring the additional
actions.
Still, the DCP and the 2007 agreement do not solve all the challenges on
the Colorado River, explained Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey
Kightlinger. In effect through 2026, the DCP is a bridge solution that
allows the seven Basin states and Mexico, which also relies on Colorado
River water, to negotiate long-term management of the river.
“This is a tourniquet. It is a very proactive approach that buys us
about a decade. But climate change is exacerbating the existing problems
of drought and overuse in the Lower Basin. Increased temperatures,
decreased snowfall and reduced run-off – those challenges are only
getting worse,” Kightlinger said. “We have 40 million people, 5 million
acres of farmland and diverse ecosystems that are relying on the success
of this river. The real work is just beginning.”
In addition to Metropolitan, the DCP has already been approved by
Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and necessary agencies in Nevada. It
still needs approval from Arizona, Congress and several other water
agencies.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a
state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail
suppliers, provide water for nearly 19 million people in six counties.
The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern
California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to
develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other
resource-management programs.
Contacts
Rebecca Kimitch, (213) 217-6450; (202) 821-5253, mobile
Maritza
Fairfield, (213) 217-6853; (909) 816-7722, mobile