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Arizona will take Colorado River water cuts next year

In this aerial photo, a bathtub ring of light minerals show the high water mark on the shore of Lake Mead along the border of Nevada and Arizona, Monday, March 6, 2023, near Boulder City, Nev.
John Locher
/
AP Photo
In this aerial photo, a bathtub ring of light minerals show the high water mark on the shore of Lake Mead along the border of Nevada and Arizona, Monday, March 6, 2023, near Boulder City, Nev.

Arizona will continue to take a hit on its Colorado River allotment next year as western states struggle to deal with dire drought conditions.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s shortage declaration requires Arizona to give up about 18 percent of its annual portion of Colorado River water, more than 500 thousand acre-feet. Nevada and Mexico also take cuts.

Arizona has given up some of its Colorado River water annually since 2020, cuts that deepened when the first shortage was officially declared for 2022.

The seven Colorado River Basin states are now negotiating new rules for the river to take effect just over a year from now. The Utah Rivers Council, a nonprofit conservation group, says the proposals so far don’t adequately address the reality of climate change. More that two decades of drought worsened by warming temperatures brought reservoirs to historic lows in recent years.

Today Lake Mead and Lake Powell combined are 37% full.

Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR and been featured on Science Friday. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she fell in love with the ecology and geology of the Sonoran desert.