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The Law of the River was enacted 100 years ago and gives senior rights to California, and further complicating things is the Central Arizona Project, a 335-mile aqueduct that sends Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson.

While six states came up with a consensus plan last week regarding cutting water use from a dwindling supply of the Colorado River, a lone wolf — California — came up with its own. Read more»

Divers assess the Wahweap boat launch ramp at Lake Powell in July 2021. when falling low lake levels pulled the water’s edge back from the end of the ramp. State and federal officials are scrambling to come up with plans to protect the river and its reservoirs, gripped in a historic drought.

Federal officials said they will consider a plan by Arizona and five other Colorado River basin states on how to further cut water consumption, even though the biggest user in the basin – California – has not signed off on it. Read more»

Water levels in Colorado River reservoirs like Lake Mead, shown here in 2918, and Lake Powell continued to fall to dangerously low levels in 2022, triggering a series of cuts in the amount of water states can pull from the river beginning this year.

Water from the Colorado River covers more than a third of Arizona's total water usage, but as the state is increasingly losing access to that supply, that loss, and potential future loss, is a focal point of Arizona's state legislature. Read more»

The Colorado River as it flows around Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona.

Lake Mead and Lake Powell are currently sitting at a combined storage of 13.1 million acre-feet, which is about a quarter of capacity. In December 1999, Lake Mead sat at 96% capacity and Lake Powell was at 88%. Read more»

Engel on the evening of the August primary election.

"I’m voting for Kirsten Engel in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District to ensure that a vibrant Arizona is ready to face the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead." — Rita Ranch resident Albert Lucero Read more»

The Tucson City Council will hold public hearings on water, parks and trash fee increases.

Rate increases are in the works for Tucson residents, and the City Council will hold a public hearing ahead of proposed higher costs to living in the city, plus more in local government meetings this week. Read more»

A sign marks the water line last year at Lake Mead, which has since fallen to historically low levels. That triggered a water conservation plan for states in the river basin, but Arizona officials complain that they have to bear too much of the burden while states like California are not being hit.

Faced with deep cuts to the water supply, and angry that other states are not doing their share, tribes and local governments in Arizona are increasingly talking about backing off earlier offers to give up some water. Read more»

The initial round of broad recommendations from the Regional Transportation Authority's technical team will go before the City Council. 'RTA Next' talks are about to get hot.

Tucson City Manager Mike Ortega is recommending the council in 2023 resume taking every bloody pint of Central Arizona Project water its freaking entitled to get, as the feds reduce Arizona's allotment. Read more»

Arizona is losing 21 percent of our Colorado River water allocation as a multi-decade drought is emptying Lake Mead. The state is now being forced to do something about climate change.

Arizona's political leaders warned any action to prevent climate change would cost too much. Get ready to spend because climate change is here and taking 592,000 acre feet a year of water from the state. Read more»

A ‘bathtub ring’ of mineral deposits left by higher water levels is visible at the drought-stricken Lake Mead on Sept. 20, 2021. The reservoir stands at 27% capacity and levels are expected to drop even further by the end of the year.

As the historic drought in the U.S. West continues to push reservoir levels down to new lows, the federal government on Tuesday ordered Arizona and Nevada to cut the amount of water they draw from the Colorado River. Read more»

The light-colored exposed 'bathtub ring' of formerly submerged shoreline in Lake Mead was already evident in this 2020 photo of the Hoover Dam and diminishing reservoir behind it.

Arizona will face a drastic cut in the amount of Colorado River water delivered from Lake Mead after federal officials announced Tuesday that the state will lose 21% of its annual allotment next year. Read more»

The Central Arizona Project crosses a barren stretch of desert just north of Bouse, Ariz., after water from the Colorado River is diverted from Lake Havasu.

In June, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton told the U.S. Senate that states using the Colorado River Basin for their water supply have 60 days to create an emergency plan to cut their water usage by 2 to 4 million acre-feet. Read more»

Eviction notices on an apartment window. The Tucson City Council is ready to start evictions in public housing if arrangements with past-due tenants can't be reached.

Tucson city staff will ask for an informal nod to move to start working with 190 families who owe $135,000 in back rent, while local school district budgets are set for adoption after state runs late on its spending plan. Read more»

A ‘bathtub ring’ of mineral deposits left by higher water levels is visible at the drought-stricken Lake Mead on Sept. 20, 2021. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reported that Lake Mead, North America’s largest artificial reservoir, has dropped to about 1,044 feet above sea level, the lowest it’s been since being filled in 1937 after the construction of the Hoover Dam. The declining water levels are a result of a climate change-fueled megadrought coupled with increased water demands in the Southwestern United States. Fears are increasing that Lake Mead could in years ahead become a 'dead pool' when the water levels become too low to flow downstream from nearby Hoover Dam.

In an effort to keep water levels in Lake Mead from declining at a drastic rate, the city of Phoenix said it will leave an additional 14,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water in the lake this year - joining communities across the state that have made contributions. Read more»

Project Nexus, which will break ground this fall in Central California, aims to test water and energy conservation using solar-panel canopies.

A pilot project in California’s lush Central Valley looks to save water and increase energy efficiency by building solar-panel canopies over existing canals - but such a solution is impractical in Arizona, where costs would be too high and the savings too low. Read more»

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