by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
The Daily Sentinel
I heard about two lawyers that argued for over an hour. Finally, one said, “That’s my final word on the subject.” To which the other replied, “Oh, good. Now we can begin.” In politics, contentious agreements are a bit like that, too. There is really no such thing as a “final” agreement, only the agreement that’s in effect until the next meeting.
The Bureau of Reclamation just released its “Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.” It represents the government’s “final decision” on how it will manage the Colorado River over the next 10 years. The first draft of the document was published in January, followed by months of public comments and meetings, and ongoing negotiations between the seven Colorado River basin states. When Upper Basin (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico) and Lower Basin (California, Arizona, Nevada) states were unable to reach an agreement, the Bureau proceeded with its process, leading to the current document. “Final EIS” is a federal process term, but it is by no means the last word.
That is by design. The document simply explains the government’s selection of the alternative it thinks advances the ball for now, but it assumes the interstate negotiations will continue, and if there is a better agreement later it is flexible enough to accommodate any consensus. It calls that an “adaptive decision framework,” the basis for managing Lake Powell and Lake Mead (and other federal reservoirs) for the next decade, but it can be revised every two years if a consensus emerges.
In brief, the new guidelines will lower the minimum releases from Lake Powell, from 6 million acre-feet a year to 5 million. The plan will cut Lower Basin use up to 3 million acre-feet, and provide for additional future “conserved water” storage in Powell (3 million acre-feet) and Mead (8 million acre-feet). And it includes a goal of voluntary water conservation in the Upper Basin, up to 200,000 acre-feet a year. The government says that will preserve the ability to generate power at both dams. Both have fallen to their lowest-ever storage level, Powell at 23% of capacity and Mead at 27%.
