Lake Mead Level Narrowly Misses Trigger For Mandatory Water Cuts To Two Lower Basin States

BOR announcement today spurs urgent call for water conservation ramp-up from Protect the Flows, business voice of the Colorado River

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation recently released its cautiously anticipated 24-Month Study Report (http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/24mo.pdf) outlining projected operations and conditions for Colorado River system reservoirs for the next two years. The August report is pivotal because it determines whether the federal government will declare a water shortage in Lake Mead, which would then trigger mandatory cuts to water usage in Arizona and Nevada, reducing the amount of Colorado River water that they can withdraw from Lake Mead during 2017.

A shortage was avoided this year, but only by the slimmest of margins.

“The good news is that we missed the trigger level. The bad news is that we missed it so narrowly and we remain dangerously close to automatic cuts,” said Protect the Flows Arizona State Director Nicole Gonzalez Patterson. “This is the loudest of wake up signals for the region’s water managers, who now must scale up water conservation efforts to head off a calamitous shortage call down the road.”

Without additional action, a shortage declaration is virtually certain. Indeed, five-year projections from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation show that there is a high probability of shortage in 2018 and beyond without significant changes. Fortunately, there are steps available to reduce water demand and make water management more flexible through collaboration, innovation, and conservation. For example, there are projects and policies in the works that can help reduce demand on the Colorado River as they are implemented, including elements of Colorado’s State Water Plan and the Department of Interior’s WaterSMART program, which provides grants to improve community water delivery systems and infrastructure for conservation.

The Colorado River and the states that depend on it are entering a new era characterized by a new normal for drought conditions, increasing temperatures and growing population. These challenges exacerbate a fundamental problem on the Colorado River—demand for its water outstrips supply. The now familiar white “bathtub ring” in Lake Mead graphically depicts how steep the water decline has become.  This new reality demands that we change how we use water or face devastating consequences for the Colorado River system and the communities, economies, wildlife, and livelihoods that depend on it.

The required change is not only possible, but is already becoming a reality. Even as populations continue to grow across the Southwest, cities and agriculture can significantly reduce water use and continue to thrive. In fact, the Bureau of Reclamation recently forecasted that Colorado River water consumption in California, Nevada and Arizona in 2017 will be at its lowest since 1992.

“We avoided a shortage declaration for 2017, but the work is far from over.  While current conservation efforts have been crucial, we need our local, state and federal leaders to continue to back existing and new conservation programs,” said Protect the Flows Arizona State Director Nicole Gonzalez Patterson. “We still have a chance to get out in front of this problem before the system automatically drives our actions and we are forced to make drastic changes.  Dropping the ball here will severely damage our communities, economy, environment, and way of life -- and that is absolutely not an option.” 

About Protect the Flows
Protect the Flows is a network of over 1100 businesses who depend on and support a healthy and thriving Colorado River system for the economic vitality it provides. Healthy rivers support economies and communities within the Colorado River Basin and beyond. Members of PTF range from wineries and bed & breakfasts to banks and Fortune 500 companies, all of whom support innovative and common-sense solutions to the water challenges facing the Southwest.