A plan to divvy up cutbacks to Colorado River water in times of shortage has passed its first two tests in Congress.
On Thursday, a House subcommittee endorsed the Drought Contingency Plan after questioning the state and federal officials who crafted it. One of them, Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, called on the committee and Congress to take “urgent action” and authorize it as soon as possible.
Thursday's approval came a day after a Senate subcommittee endorsed the plan. Next, lawmakers in both chambers will have to negotiate and vote on bills that would allow the federal government to carry out the plan. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who chaired the subcommittee, vowed action "as soon as possible."
Buschatzke and the other officials stressed the short timeline they have tofinish work on the plan, a product of years of long and tense negotiations that crossed state and party lines.
"It is a plan ... to address the ongoing drought in the lower Colorado River Basin that began nearly two decades ago and has no end in sight," Buschatzke said to the committee.
“DCP also accounts for the drier future that we all expect will be the norm in the coming decades," he said. "The time to act is now."
A bridge to a long-term plan
The drought plan aims to spread the pain of expected cutbacks on the river and protect two of the nation's largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Lake Mead is now 39 percent full; if levels drop too low, users across the region could face shortages.
The plan would overwrite previous agreements among the river states and bridge the gap between a long-range drought plan starting in 2026.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., one of the many Arizona representatives at the hearing, asked U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman how the plan complies with environmental standards, which he called the impetus for moving the plan forward.
Burman explained that a careful balance was found between stakeholders and water officials to help ensure any cuts would not harm wildlife that lives in or near the river.
Grijalva said the legislation, which he plans to introduce early next week, has support from all seven basin states and that it respects environmental laws.
He also said he has made a commitment to Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., to deliver possible solutions for stakeholders who were displeased with the exclusion of the Imperial Irrigation District, which objected to the plan's failure to fully address problems with the Salton Sea.
Grijalva was joined by Arizona Reps. David Schweikert, Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs, Ruben Gallego and Greg Stanton, all of whom lauded the deal as a rare bipartisan accomplishment and recognized the work from the state's tribal communities.
'... take it across the finish line'
Thursday was the water deal’s second test on Capitol Hill, coming a day after a Senate subcommittee, chaired by McSally, R-Ariz., similarly endorsed the plan. McSally echoed Buschatzke and the other officials who stressed the short timeline they have, saying she and other senators will take swift action.
“Now that the states have completed their work, it’s time for Congress to take it across the finish line,” McSally said on Wednesday, adding that she and other senators are working to finalize the language of their version of a bill to enact the plan, which could be introduced as soon as Thursday.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz, joined McSally in celebrating a huge first step, one of many standing in the way of enacting the plan. Sinema released a statement on Wednesday following the Senate hearing and said she was "proud to continue the legacy of water policy leadership in Arizona."
Action needed to avoid 'true crisis'
Burman used deadlines as a tool to speed up sluggish negotiations among the states, especially the three on the lower river, Arizona, Nevada and California. On Thursday, she applauded everyone involved in the making of the plan and verbally passed the torch to Congress.
While mostly optimistic, Burman also gave the committee a glimpse into what might happen if the federal government fails to do its part
“While shortages are likely part of the lower basin’s future, none of the lower basin states or Mexico can afford to allow a true crisis of water supply to develop,” Burman said to the House panel.
“Simply put, if lake Mead were to decline to elevations before 1,020 feet ...this would leave us without a full year supply,” she said.
Even with recent storms and a promising snowpack in the Rockies, Burman said one good year won't fix the underlying issues of drought. Lawmakers, she said, need to recognize the reality and authorize the plan so states like Arizona can breathe a little easier.
Stanton, D-Ariz., one of the lawmakers on the panel, is the former mayor of Phoenix, a city that gets almost 40 percent of its water from the river. Stanton, who often worked closely with Buschatzke, said he understood how much work has gone into finding a compromise for a critically important plan.
Climate change threats loom
Stanton pointed to climate change as one of the larger reasons why the American desert Southwest is in this dire situation.
“Make no mistake, one of the primary reasons we are here today is climate change,” Stanton said, adding that Arizona and other Southwestern states are in the midst of a historic drought that is projected to worsen.
“It has not been an easy process. The agreements and the legislation is a compromise, everybody is going to feel some pain.”
Burman alsostressed that water officials in the basin states will have to begin work soon on a long-range agreement.
“What (the plan) is going to do is give us that space for us … to work together on what is the next step,” Burman said. Buschatzke echoed Burman and said this temporary plan is just a bridge and that he didn't know what could come of those future negotiations.
If nothing is done, Buschatzke and the other officials fear a crisis could cripple the sustainable growth of cities and their economies, negatively affect the wildlife that depends on the river and bring many other unforeseen consequences. The river, they said, is the lifeblood for 40 million people, millions of acres of farmland and a significant source of hydropower.
Biggs, R-Ariz., underlined that a reliable source of water is an economic necessity for the state, which he said has been a national and international leader in water conservation.
"Sustainability in the Colorado River is critical to sustaining Arizona's rapid growth and its strong agricultural economy," Biggs said. "The DCP will provide certainty to Arizonans to what their water security will look like for future generations and indeed for the entire Colorado River Basin states.