Department of the Interior (DOI)

 

Federal Government Proposes Landmark Water Cuts To Conserve Colorado River Water — “The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation released a draft environmental impact statement on Tuesday that details revisions in the operations of Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams, which could potentially evenly cut water allotment for water delivered to California, Arizona and Nevada by as much as one-quarter in order to prevent the Colorado River depleting reservoirs from falling to critically low levels. It proposed three possible scenarios. The first of three possible scenarios involves no federal intervention and would rely on the seven states that take water from the Colorado River to come to a deal to prevent deadpool levels that would threaten power production, something they have so far failed to do. The second option concerns the amount of water released from Glen Canyon Dam, which would be reduced based on water rights. This would mean fewer cuts for California, which has the most senior water rights, and more severe cuts for Arizona and Nevada. The third scenario would entail water cuts spread evenly by the same percentage across all states, which could prompt legal challenges from states like California with more senior water rights but could avoid worse consequences for states like Arizona and Nevada and tribal communities that could struggle under larger cuts.” [ABC, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

US Floats Options To Reduce Water Pulled From Colorado River — “The Biden administration released an environmental analysis Tuesday that outlined two ways that seven Western states and tribes reliant on the overtapped Colorado River could cut their use, but declined to publicly take a side on the best option. One option would be more beneficial to California and some tribes along the river that have high-priority rights to the river’s water. The second option is likely to be more favorable to Nevada and Arizona, who share the river’s Lower Basin with California and say it’s time for an approach that more fairly spreads the pain of cuts. That approach would force cuts on a proportional basis, when water levels at key reservoirs along the river dip below a certain point. The Interior Department defended its authority to make sure basic needs such as drinking water and hydropower generated from the river are met — even if it means setting aside the priority system.” [Associated Press, 4/12/23 (=)]

 

Interior Proposes Cuts To Arizona, California And Nevada’s Share Of Colorado River — “The Biden administration has proposed cutting water allotments from the Colorado River to California, Arizona, and Nevada by up to 25%. hoping to conserve the supply. ‘The Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million Americans. It fuels hydropower resources in eight states, supports agriculture and agricultural communities across the West, and is a crucial resource for 30 Tribal Nations. Failure is not an option,’ said Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau in a statement. ‘Recognizing the severity of the worsening drought, the Biden-Harris administration is bringing every tool and every resource to bear through the President’s Investing in America agenda to protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System now and into the future.’ Overuse and a 23-year drought have reduced the river’s flows by one-third, putting its reservoirs at risk of becoming dead pools, The New York Times reports.” [The Center Square, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Feds Propose Options For Managing Colorado River Water Shortage: ‘Failure Is Not An Option’ — “KEY POINTS The Biden administration on Tuesday released a document exploring potential solutions for managing the ongoing drought in the Colorado River Basin. The government is aiming to make a final decision about how to manage the water shortage in August, to go into effect in 2024. The seven states that rely on the drought-stricken Colorado River failed to meet a Jan. 31 federal deadline to strike a deal on voluntarily cutting water use” [CNBC, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Interior Offers Extremes On Colorado River Cuts To Spur Compromise — “The Interior Department on Tuesday shared its proposal for expected cuts to Colorado River water allocations but acknowledged that the most extreme options — including a plan that would slash water deliveries to Arizona and Nevada — are unlikely to be included in a final decision this summer. Instead, agency officials presented their emergency plan — which includes contrasting proposals that would either force California to forfeit a significant portion of its flows or concentrate the pain of cuts on Arizona and Nevada — as a set of ‘bookends’ to motivate state officials to collaborate. ‘I would not think about either of these three alternatives as something we’re asking people to choose, but rather, they’re models and alternatives and ways of defining the problem,’ said Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau, referring to an update of the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines. Interior is in the process of overhauling those rules, which dictate how much water is withdrawn from Lake Powell and Lake Mead based on their current surface elevations, in a bid to save hydropower production on the river by raising water levels in the reservoirs, which have dropped precipitously in recent years.” [E&E News, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Biden Administration Offers Proposals For Colorado River Cutbacks — “Amid the failure of Colorado River basin states to come to an agreement over water usage cutbacks, federal officials stepped in on Tuesday with a series of possible solutions. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation presented the options — which could either favor priority water users or distribute the burden evenly — in a bid to address a likely future of ‘unprecedented water shortages’ across the basin, according to the agency. Presented in a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), the alternatives seek to ensure the integrity and safety of the river’s Glen Canyon and Hoover dam operations from 2024-2026, after current operating guidelines expire. ‘The Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million Americans,’ Interior Department Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau said in a statement prior to the announcement.” [The Hill, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Federal Government Considers Major Water Cuts To Protect Colorado River — “The federal government on Tuesday laid out two options for preventing the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs from falling to critically low levels, saying water cuts could be imposed across the Southwest by following the water-rights priority system or by using an across-the-board percentage. The stakes in the decision are high for California, which receives the largest share of water from the Colorado River, as well as for Arizona and Nevada. Imposing an equal across-the-board cut would hit California harder, particularly in agricultural regions, while strict adherence to the water-rights priority system would bring larger reductions for cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation presented its alternatives as an initial step in a review aimed at revising the rules for dealing with shortages through 2026. Federal officials said that the proposals still could change and that a solution somewhere between the two options could emerge as representatives of states, water agencies and tribes continue negotiations on how to address the chronic water shortages.” [Los Angeles Times, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

White House Proposes Equal Cuts For States That Depend On Colorado River — “The White House is proposing a plan that would force several western states to equally split how much water they use from the Colorado River. The fight over water allocation has been brewing for months as drought is threatening the supply. NBC’s Kayla Tausche has the latest.” [NBC, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Biden Administration Proposes Evenly Cutting Water Allotments From Colorado River — “After months of fruitless negotiations between the states that depend on the shrinking Colorado River, the Biden administration on Tuesday proposed to put aside legal precedent and save what’s left of the river by evenly cutting water allotments, reducing the water delivered to California, Arizona and Nevada by as much as one-quarter. The size of those reductions and the prospect of the federal government unilaterally imposing them on states have never occurred in American history. Overuse and a 23-year-long drought made worse by climate change have threatened to provoke a water and power catastrophe across the West. The Colorado River supplies drinking water to 40 million Americans as well as two states in Mexico, and irrigates 5.5 million agricultural acres. The electricity generated by dams on the river’s two main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, powers millions of homes and businesses.” [The New York Times, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Interior Unveils Plans For Colorado River Cuts — “The Biden administration on Tuesday released its initial proposals to address shortages on the drought-ravaged Colorado River — offering contrasting plans that would either force California to forfeit a significant portion of its flows or concentrate the pain of cuts on Arizona and Nevada. The emergency plans attempt to save hydropower production on the river — which serves some 40 million individuals in seven states — by raising water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which have dropped precipitously in recent years. It is also a safeguard against those reservoirs dropping to ‘dead pool’ status, when water levels are so low that flows cannot escape from behind the Hoover or Glen Canyon dams. ‘Drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin have been two decades in the making. To meet this moment, we must continue to work together, through a commitment to protecting the river, leading with science and a shared understanding that unprecedented conditions require new solutions,’ Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said in a statement ahead of a press conference at the Hoover Dam.” [Politico, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Biden Admin Sidesteps Painful Decisions For Colorado River Cuts — “The Biden administration declined to take a side Tuesday on whether California or Arizona should bear the brunt of potential cuts in water deliveries from the drought-shrunken Colorado River. The administration issued a new draft environmental analysis that took a major step toward allowing it to impose severe water delivery cuts — a potentially momentous step as the West’s most important river faces the consequences of climate change. But it sidestepped for now whether to side with a plan pushed by deep blue California, whose agricultural interests hold some of the strongest rights to the river, or Arizona, a newfound presidential swing state whose major cities could see their access to the river cut off entirely during the driest periods. By declining to indicate how it was leaning in that fight, Biden’s Interior Department is seeking to turn up the pressure on the states to accelerate their negotiations to strike a water-sharing deal that could alleviate the need for Interior Department to make the tough decisions. In an interview, Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau told POLITICO that the department’s current approach is aimed not just at equipping the department to act unilaterally if needed, but also providing ‘markers’ to states as they negotiate.” [Politico, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Colorado River Cities And Farms Face Dire Trade-Offs With New Federal Review — “The Biden administration on Tuesday moved closer to imposing unprecedented cuts in how much water Arizona, California and Nevada could pull from the Colorado River, while raising the possibility that these reductions could be distributed in ways that contradict long-standing water rights that favor powerful farming regions. Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. In releasing a new environmental review of how to operate the Colorado River’s major reservoirs, the Interior Department detailed the painful dilemma facing the American West after a two-decade drought and chronic overuse. Interior officials also defended Secretary Deb Haaland’s right to make cuts in a proportional way in times of emergency even if that goes against water rights held by farming communities from more than a century ago. Over the past year, the seven states of the Colorado River basin have been unable to reach an agreement among themselves to make major cuts to protect the reservoirs. The federal government expects to make a decision on how reductions could be distributed by August.” [The Washington Post, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

 

Interior OKs Massive Power Line Key For West’s Renewables — “The Biden administration gave final approval to a $3 billion transmission line Tuesday that will carry electricity from the country’s largest onshore wind farm in Wyoming and help move more low-carbon energy into California. The 732-mile TransWest Express Transmission Project is one of the largest transmission projects to reach final approval on the Western grid in decades. Once built, it will add 3,000 megawatts of transmission capacity and connect three planning regions across four states as the U.S. seeks to ship more renewable power to areas of high demand in the West. The Bureau of Land Management issued a notice to proceed for the project Tuesday after some 15 years of permitting work, allowing independent transmission operator TransWest Express LLC to move ahead with construction. TransWest is a subsidiary of the Anschutz Corp. Roxane Perruso, chief operating officer of TransWest, said in an interview that the ‘pretty darn exciting’ move Tuesday marked a milestone for the Biden administration’s clean energy push, which will require expanding renewable generation in remote areas.” [E&E News, 4/12/23 (=)]

 

Biden Administration Approves Construction Of 700-Mile Transmission Line Across US West — “The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on Tuesday that it has approved the construction of a 732-mile high-voltage transmission line across the Western U.S. that will help transport renewable energy. The transmission line, called the TransWest Express Project, will run from south-central Wyoming through northwestern Colorado and central Utah before reaching its endpoint in southern Nevada, according to the BLM. The project is part of broader Biden administration goals to modernize power infrastructure in the U.S. West and achieve a carbon-free electricity grid by 2035, the agency stated. ‘This large-scale transmission line will put people to work across our public lands and will help deliver clean, renewable energy,’ BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a statement. ‘Our responsible use of public lands today can help ensure a clean energy future for us all,’ Stone-Manning added.” [The Hill, 4/12/23 (=)]

 

 

States & Local

 

Tribes Want US Protection For Areas Next To The Grand Canyon — “Tribal leaders in Arizona said Tuesday they hope to build on the momentum of President Joe Biden’s recent designation of a national monument in neighboring Nevada to persuade the administration to create similar protections for areas adjacent to the Grand Canyon, which they consider sacred. ‘This designation is of the highest priority to the Hopi people,’ said Timothy Nuvangyaoma, chairman of the tribe in northern Arizona. ‘We have to protect the beauty and grandeur of this place many tribes call home.’ Tribes in Arizona are looking to persuade Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to make the designation for a little more than 1 million acres (404,686 hectares), or about 1,560 square miles (4,000 square kilometers). The announcement during a virtual news conference came days before Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is scheduled to visit Nevada. The state is home to Avi Kwa Ame, a newly designated monument on a desert mountain northwest of Laughlin — the largest community in the remote southern tip of the state — that some Native Americans consider sacred. Haaland will join Nevada’s congressional delegation and tribal leaders Friday in Las Vegas to celebrate the move.” [Associated Press, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Tribes, Lawmakers Revive Push For Monument Near Grand Canyon — “A coalition of tribes and lawmakers on Tuesday called on President Joe Biden to create a new million-acre national monument in Arizona to permanently prevent mining near Grand Canyon National Park. Leaders of the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition joined Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) in urging Biden to use his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. The proposed monument would include more than 1.1 million acres of land adjacent to the popular national park. At a virtual news conference Tuesday afternoon, proponents said the designation would preserve the tribes’ cultural ties to the region and protect surrounding areas by keeping a temporary moratorium on mining in place. Its name would also honor two local tribes: Baaj Nwaavjo means ‘where tribes roam’ for the Havasupai Tribe, while I’tah Kukveni means ‘our footprints’ for the Hopi Tribe. Hopi Tribe Chair Tim Nuvangyaoma said the proposal would protect ‘the beauty and grandeur of this area that we call home.’ ‘The Creator gave us a gift, and that gift is in the form of the Grand Canyon,’ he said. ‘That gift is not only to the tribal nations that have that intimate connection with it, but it’s a gift to the state of Arizona, it’s a gift to the United States, it’s a gift to the entire world.’” [E&E News, 4/11/23 (=)]

 

Tribal Leaders Push For Creation Of Grand Canyon National Monument — “A new push from the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition could nearly double the protected land surrounding the Grand Canyon. Tribal leaders from the Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, and more are joining with Rep. Raúl Grijalva and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to call on President Biden to create the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. The proposed monument would include 1,102,501 acres of land adjacent to the Grand Canyon National Park, and advocates say that it would honor the tribes’ deep cultural ties to the region and enhance the area’s cultural, natural, and scientific resources. Multiple Native American tribes call the Grand Canyon region their home, and still maintain significant and sacred ties to the area. The coalition said their proposal would secure those ancestral homelands for the tribes that claim them.” [KPNX-TV, 4/11/23 (=)]        

 

 

 

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