How Arizona could benefit from a proposal to stabilize the Colorado River

"Arizona farmers would be among the first affected by a new proposal to reduce water delivers from the Colorado River. They hope it leads to longer term stability. Arizona is volunteering to temporarily give up some of the river water it has a right to in order to buy time to negotiate a more favorable deal. In the meantime, the state's farmers are trying to figure out how to survive."

"In a wide-open Sonoran Desert valley, 12 rusted motors pulled from old Chevys pump cloudy blue water out of a cement canal. It's from the Colorado River, irrigating bright green fields of wheat and barley. Brian Wong is a fourth-generation farmer. Here, farmers are always thinking about water. Where is it going to come from in the future? And you can always just try to do your best with planning and, you know, projecting out into the future, but things are always going to be volatile that you could never plan on."

"For decades, farmers like Wong have been able to plan on getting water from this canal, part of the Central Arizona Project, or CAP. But Patrick Dent, a manager with CAP, says in order to get this water, Arizona had to make concessions to another state that uses it - California. That does put some of Arizona's water uses - CAP's water uses - in a junior position from a priority perspective. That means when the river is in crisis like now, the CAP is first in line to be cut off from the Colorado."

Arizona farmers could be among the first to experience reduced Colorado River deliveries under a new proposal. Arizona is volunteering to temporarily give up some water it has a right to in order to buy time for negotiations on a more favorable long-term deal. Farmers are trying to survive while water planning remains volatile. In the Sonoran Desert valley, pumps draw Colorado River water through the Central Arizona Project to irrigate crops such as wheat and barley. Arizona historically relied on CAP deliveries, but concessions to California placed CAP water uses in a junior priority position. When the river is in crisis, CAP can be cut off first. Seven river-sharing states are working on a new agreement before the current one expires at year’s end.

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