With Presidential Election Looming, Colorado River States Urgently Pursue New Deal
The clock is ticking for the consumers who count on one of the nation’s most important, and most imperiled, water sources to figure out how they can preserve that source into the future.
“The states that rely on the Colorado River, which is shrinking because of climate change and overuse, are rushing to agree on a long-term deal to share the dwindling resource by the end of the year,” The New York Times reported. “They worry that a change in administrations after the (presidential) election could set back talks.”
Negotiations over how to share the Colorado River have been difficult for officials to resolve, even turning hostile at times. Some progress has been made but the rules governing this critical water body, which provides drinking water for 40 million people in some of the nation’s driest regions, expire at the end of 2026.
“Negotiators are trying to reach a deal quickly, in case the White House changes hands,” according to the Times. “It’s not the prospect of a Republican administration that is particularly concerning, negotiators said, but rather a change in personnel and the time required to build new relationships between state and federal officials.”
Negotiators can hardly afford a setback. A recent research report found that the Colorado River is poised to shrink by as much as 30% in the next three decades, raising major red flags for those officials responsible for preserving it.
“Those are alarming numbers,” Colorado State Senator Dylan Roberts said of the projected shrinkage, per The Colorado Sun. “Coloradans who depend on rivers and stream flow for agriculture and recreation notice if a stream dips even a couple of points. To hear of a 30% reduction is shocking and really concerning.”
In addition to responsible agreements between the states that share the Colorado River, emerging water recycling and preservation technologies are poised to pay a major role in the U.S. West.
To read more about how water systems preserve limited drinking water, visit Water Online’s Water Scarcity Solutions Center.