Arizona has filed a motion to join a lawsuit against the federal government over a new plan for managing the Colorado River. The Central Arizona Project (CAP) has filed a similar motion.
Nevada filed the first lawsuit in August, challenging the new rules for managing water in the Colorado River basin. Under the federal plan, water deliveries to Arizona, California and Nevada would be reduced by about 20% by 2028. Later, the cuts could reach about 40%.
The 10-year plan calls for mandatory cuts for the three lower-basin states in dry years. Upper-basin states such as Colorado are to limit their use voluntarily. That is one of the main objections of the Arizona side.
CAP operates a 336-mile canal system that carries Colorado River water to the Phoenix and Tucson areas. According to the lawsuit, representatives of the three states warned about the effects of deep cuts. The plaintiffs say the Bureau of Reclamation ignored those warnings.
What’s next? A quick resolution is not expected. The lawsuit also does not rule out a separate, more radical dispute. The states could sue one another and take the case to the Supreme Court. Arizona officials say openly that they have that option. However, the current lawsuit is not what is known as the “nuclear option,” meaning the route to the Supreme Court.
Most water policy experts in the region believe a showdown before the Supreme Court would not be a good way to resolve the Colorado River disputes. The states’ own negotiators say much the same. Arizona has long been preparing for legal battles. In the summer, it increased its fund for proceedings concerning the river to a total of $9 million.
Source: KJZZ
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