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The Trump administration faces a September deadline to set water-use restrictions after talks among seven Western states collapsed. Governors proposed more than $50 billion in supply projects while the Interior Department reviews options including desalination and cloud seeding.
GristThe Trump administration must set a schedule of Colorado River water-use restrictions by September after negotiations among seven Western states ended without agreement. The states have used more water than the river supplies for years, draining Lake Powell and Lake Mead during a two-decade drought.
Upper Basin states Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico remain at odds with Lower Basin states Arizona, California and Nevada over which side must cut usage first.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has not settled the dispute. The seven governors instead sent Washington a list of projects costing more than $50 billion. Interior Department water official Andrea Travnicek told a Senate committee last week that the agency has not yet reviewed the proposals and urged lawmakers to spend taxpayer money thoughtfully.
Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said the basin should not choose between stabilizing current supplies and planning for the future. Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act that paid farmers to leave fields fallow in 2022 has nearly run out. Proposals include a $6 billion desalination plant in Baja California that would allow Arizona to draw less river water.
The Interior Department signed an agreement in early June with San Diego’s water agency on how such a plant could work. San Diego’s existing Poseidon Water plant, which opened in 2015 at a cost of $1 billion, already produces more water than the city needs.
Nevada requested $300 million to retrofit its largest natural gas plant and $650 million for zero-water cooling systems at airports, schools and industrial sites.
Utah spends several million dollars annually on cloud seeding and says the practice could increase snowpack by up to 10 percent. Rain Enhancement reported delivering enough rain this year for 15,000 homes along a Utah tributary, while Rainmaker claims it can produce 1,000 times that volume by 2031.
The Interior Department has a funding agreement with Cadiz to study exchanges between its Mojave Desert groundwater and the Colorado River.
Cadiz chief executive Susan Kennedy said the company could deliver water by 2028. The seven states did not include the Cadiz project on their wish list.
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EuronewsMultiple countries have activated extreme-heat warnings through at least Thursday. Forecasts show highs of 38-44C across France, Spain, Italy, the UK, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
EuronewsDaytime highs are forecast to reach or exceed 42°C in parts of the country on Tuesday. Red warnings cover inland areas of the Basque Country, Cantabria and Andalusia while orange alerts span roughly ten more regions.
pbs.orgThe nominee for FEMA director said staff cuts would present operational difficulties and pledged faster distribution of disaster funds to states. The comments came during a Senate hearing on the nomination.