After nearly a month of terse exchanges among water managers in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona about Colorado River conservation strategies, representatives from the five states met Monday in Salt Lake City to hash out their differences.
At issue is how the Central Arizona Project (CAP) -- the operator of a 336-mile aqueduct that pumps Colorado River water to farmers and cities -- is conserving water in Lake Mead, the river鈥檚 largest reservoir. The project is managed by the Central Arizona Water Conservancy District (CAWCD) and is the state鈥檚 largest water provider.
The meeting didn鈥檛 resolve the issue, says James Eklund, the Colorado representative on the Upper Colorado River Commission, but CAP officials did offer an apology.
鈥淒istrict representatives expressed regret about their use of rhetoric in describing the policy of maximizing reservoir releases solely for the benefit of the [Central Arizona Water Conservancy] District at the expense of the rest of the Colorado River Basin,鈥� Eklund said in a written statement.
States in the river鈥檚 Upper Basin -- Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico -- accused CAP and CAWCD of manipulating how much water the project received to avoid a shortage, while still gaining more water from those states鈥� biggest reservoir, Lake Powell.
In response to a series of public statements and sent to CAP鈥檚 Twitter followers demonstrating this strategy, Upper Basin representatives in mid-April saying CAP鈥檚 behavior, while within the rules, was a violation of the watershed鈥檚 collaborative spirit. The larger basin-wide feud was borne out of a dispute within the state of Arizona over which agencies have final authority to decide how to conserve water.
鈥淐AWCD regrets that intra-Arizona issues have impacted other parties in the Colorado River basin,鈥� said CAP spokeswoman Crystal Thompson in a written statement. 鈥淪pecifically, CAWCD regrets using language and representations that were insensitive to Upper Basin concerns, and resolves to have a more respectful and transparent dialogue in the future.鈥�
Meeting attendees did not schedule a follow up meeting to further address the issue, and a meeting between CAWCD and state of Arizona water officials has yet to be scheduled.
The dust up caused to pull out of a Colorado River conservation program meant to boost reservoir levels. The city of Pueblo, Colorado鈥檚 water department cited CAP鈥檚 behavior in rescinding its proposal to participate in the System Conservation Pilot Program.
鈥淭his river really only works and functions the way we鈥檝e designed it if trust is in abundance and we鈥檙e truly viewing the entire basin as connected,鈥� Eklund says. The discussion in Salt Lake City was a starting point, 鈥渂ut the proof of progress will be in [CAP鈥檚] actions.鈥�
This story is part of a project covering the Colorado River, produced by KUNC and supported through a Walton Family Foundation grant. KUNC is solely responsible for .
