One
of
the
boat
ramps
at
Callville
Bay
Marina
no
longer
reaches
the
water
on
April
16,
2023
in
Lake
Mead
National
Recreation
Area,
Nevada.

Rj
Sangosti
|
Medianews
Group
|
The
Denver
Post
via
Getty
Images

The
Biden
administration
on
Monday
announced
that
it’s
reached
an
agreement
with
states
reliant
on
the
Colorado
River
to
reduce
their
water
usage
temporarily
in
exchange
for
at
least
$1
billion
in
federal
funding,
a
deal
that
comes
after
months
of
negotiations
and
some
missed
deadlines
to
protect
the
drought-stricken
river.

Under
the
agreement,
California,
Arizona
and
Nevada
will
voluntarily
conserve
3
million
acre-feet
of
water
until
2026,
amounting
to
about
13%
of
those
states’
total
allocation
from
the
river.
The
Biden
administration
will
compensate
cities,
water
districts,
Native
American
tribes
and
farm
operators
for
2.3
million
acre-feet
of
savings
using
funding
from
the
Inflation
Reduction
Act.
(An
acre-foot
of
water
is
about
what
two
average
households
consume
per
year.)

The
Colorado
River
supplies
water
to
more
than
40
million
people
and
roughly
5.5
million
acres
of
farmland
in
seven
U.S.
states.
But
a
combination
of
prolonged
drought,
dwindling
reservoir
levels
and
increased
demand
have
strained
the
river.
The
river’s
major
reservoirs,
including
Lake
Mead
and
Lake
Powell,
have
experienced
dramatic
declines
in
water
levels.

“This
is
an
important
step
forward
towards
our
shared
goal
of
forging
a
sustainable
path
for
the
basin
that
millions
of
people
call
home,”
Bureau
of
Reclamation
Commissioner
Camille
Calimlim
Touton
said.

California
has
the
largest
allocation
of
Colorado
River
water,
with
roughly

4.4
million
acre-feet
each
year
,
comprising
about
29%
of
the
total
allocation.
Arizona
receives
roughly
2.8
million
acre-feet
per
year,
or
about
18%
of
total
allocation.
Nevada’s
allocation
is
approximately
300,000
acre-feet
each
year,
representing
around
2%
of
the
total
allocation.

More
from
CNBC
Climate:

The
temporary
agreement
will
avoid
a
situation
where
the
federal
government
imposes
unilateral
water
cuts
on
all
seven
states.

The
administration
on
Monday
also
agreed
to
withdraw
its

environmental
analysis
from
last
month

that
would
have
required
states
to
cut
nearly
2.1
million
additional
acre-feet
of
their
water
usage
in
2024.
Today’s
plan
will
be
finalized
after
the
Interior
Department
conducts
an
environmental
review.

“Today’s
announcement
is
a
testament
to
the
Biden-Harris
administration’s
commitment
to
working
with
states,
Tribes
and
communities
throughout
the
West
to
find
consensus
solutions
in
the
face
of
climate
change
and
sustained
drought,”
Interior
Secretary
Deb
Haaland
said
in
a
statement.

In
January,
after
negotiations
reached
another
standstill,
six
states

submitted
a
proposal

to
the
Bureau
of
Reclamation
that
outlined
ways
to
cut
water
use,
factoring
in
water
that’s
lost
because
of
evaporation
and
leaky
infrastructure.
California
released
its
own
plan.

The
Biden
administration
has
previously
urged
all
seven
states

Arizona,
California,
Colorado,
Nevada,
New
Mexico,
Utah
and
Wyoming

to
save
between
2
million
and
4
million
acre-feet
of
water,
or
up
to
a
third
of
the
river’s
average
flow.

Photo
taken
on
March
13,
2023
shows
the
Colorado
River
near
Hoover
Dam
on
the
Arizona-Nevada
border,
the
United
States.
The
Colorado
River,
the
parched
lifeline
in
U.S.
southwest,
which
supplies
water
to
some
40
million
people
in
seven
states,
got
a
jolt
in
the
arm
from
the
2022-23
winter
thanks
to
the
snowpack
that
is
melting
and
swelling
streams
and
rivers.

Xinhua
News
Agency
|
Xinhua
News
Agency
|
Getty
Images