WASHINGTON, D.C.—Rep. Greg Stanton today urged his colleagues in Congress to pass the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) and stressed the importance of protecting the river from continued over-allocation at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee. 

In his remarks, Stanton noted that the effects of climate change on the Southwest have threatened the future of the Colorado—one of Arizona’s most vital water resources.

He cited the federally-funded National Climate Assessment, which found that rising global temperatures have changed the Southwest’s water cycle and decreased annual snowpack—resulting in less water in the Colorado. [Source]   

Stanton said that, as a result, “the once-mighty river is now dangerously over-allocated and on the verge of collapse.” 

Arizona and six other states in the Colorado River Basin have worked for several years to develop two interstate DCP agreements (one for the upper basin and another for the lower basin) to protect the river’s future supplies. Federal legislation is now required to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to sign the agreements as well. 

“It has not been an easy process. It’s taken several years, and I want to recognize the difficult and painstaking work it has taken each of the parties to reach this agreement,” Stanton said. “I think it’s important to recognize that the agreements and the legislation is a compromise.”

Stanton asked U.S Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman, who testified before the committee, to describe the consequences of not advancing the DCP.

Commissioner Burman responded candidly. “This is a dangerous situation, where we could be reaching critically low elevations that effect the drinking water of 40 million people, that effect 5.5 million acres that could go dry, that effects species both endangered and not endangered, that effect entire economies and the recreation of the Southwest,” she said. “Action is needed now.” 

According to The Arizona Republic, since 2000, the Colorado River “has dwindled during one of the driest 19-year periods in the past 1,200 years. Scientific research has estimated that about half the trend of decreasing runoff from 2000-2014 in the Upper Colorado River Basin was the result of unprecedented warming.”

During his comments, Stanton also recognized the work of Central Arizona Project General Manager Tom Buschatzke, who testified before the committee, as well as the Committee’s chairman, Rep. Raul Grijalva. 

Stanton also entered into the record a letter from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and a second letter from Arizona business leaders in support of the legislation.

The hearing can be viewed here

Stanton’s full remarks, as prepared:

Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing me to participate in today’s hearing about the future of the Colorado River, a critically important issue to Arizona.  And I want to extend a special welcome to Tom Buschatzke, the director of Arizona’s Department of Water Resources, who will testify on the second panel.  
            
The importance of the Colorado River to the West, and to my state, cannot be overstated.  Forty million people in seven western states get water from the Colorado.  And nearly 40 percent of the water used in Phoenix comes from the Colorado.  We absolutely must protect it, and we must do so without delay.  

Make no mistake: One of the primary reasons we are here today is climate change.  Climate change has ravaged the American Southwest, where we are in our 19th year of drought.  The federally-funded National Climate Assessment found that rising global temperatures have changed the Southwest’s water cycle and decreased snowpack.  Less snowpack means less water in the Colorado.  And as a result, the once-mighty river is dangerously over-allocated and on the verge of collapse. 

To prepare for the impact of the changing climate and a drier future, water users in the seven Colorado River Basin states have worked to reach agreements to voluntarily conserve water and better manage the river to mitigate the risk of water levels falling to perilous levels in Lakes Mead and Powell.  It’s not been an easy process.  It’s taken several years, and I want to recognize the difficult and painstaking work it has taken each of the parties to reach these agreements.  During my time as mayor, the City of Phoenix worked very closely with Director Buschatzke and his team at ADWR – so I know exactly how much time and effort went into making these agreements happen. 

What I think is important to recognize is that the agreements and the legislation is a compromise.  Everybody is going to feel some pain.  If we can get this through Congress, Arizona will enter into shortages on the Colorado sooner – and in larger amounts.  But it’s essential to conserving and protecting against over-allocation of the Colorado River system.  
This is our new reality in the Southwest, and we must prepare for it – today and in the future.  

Mr. Chairman, I have a letter from newly-elected Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and a second letter from business leaders in Arizona who support this legislation and ask unanimous consent that they be entered into the record.