Lower Basin States Propose 2.7 Million Acre-Feet Voluntary Colorado River Cuts Through 2028

California, Arizona and Nevada have proposed voluntary water-saving measures for the next three years, aiming to buy time while negotiations remain deadlocked over the future of shrinking reservoirs filled by the Colorado River. 2 million acre-feet of water through voluntary cutbacks through 2028, with an additional 700,000 acre-feet saved through conservation measures and infrastructure improvements.

The plan includes the creation of a conservation pool to ensure that the federal government meets its trust obligations to tribes in Arizona.

“With this proposal, the Lower Basin is putting forth real action to stabilize water supply along the Colorado River,” JB Hamby, chair of California’s Colorado River Board, said in a statement. “We’re putting forward additional measurable water contributions for the system.

The proposed plan requires approval from the states’ water agencies and the Arizona legislature, along with cooperation from the federal government.

The states said the plan was structured as a unified package that should be implemented or rejected in full. The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people in the American West. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two massive reservoirs filled by the Colorado River, stand at historically low levels.

The low levels of Lake Mead and Lake Powell result from consistent overdrawing coupled with reduced snowpack and warming from climate change. Seven states have legal rights to water from the Colorado River. The seven states have failed to agree on how to spread the pain of lost access to the dwindling Colorado River resource.

The northern basin states of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming have tried to push most of the burden onto the southern basin states. The northern basin states argue that the southern basin states draw the most water from Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

The southern basin states have countered that all states should shoulder some of the responsibility. Many of the tribes' water rights remain unquantified and difficult to access.

Several western states saw record-breaking heat this winter. As of April 1, snowpack in the upper Colorado River basin stood at 23% of the historical median, according to the New York Times. "People might change their habits, where they go on holiday this year, what they're buying in the supermarket, that sort of thing," UK's Starmer said.