By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Central Arizona Project (CAP) board voted in executive session to give its leaders the option to pursue legal action to protect Arizona’s water users as the state braces for a 30% cut to its Colorado River water.
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It is not clear whether CAP will pursue legal action, but the vote opens the door to that possibility.
Vote follows lengthy meeting
The vote followed a four-hour public meeting and a three-hour executive session. CAP is prepared for the anticipated cuts, but additional cuts beyond that could be harder to implement, according to experts.
Negotiations among seven states failed
For decades, the Colorado River has been managed through consensus-based arrangements.
Three years of negotiations between the seven states that rely on the Colorado River failed to produce an agreement. With no agreement in place, the federal government stepped in last month with its own agreement. Arizona was the biggest loser under that outcome.
Under a framework put forth by the Lower Basin states — Arizona, Nevada and California — Arizona will lose 30% of its Colorado River water. The Central Arizona Project, the system of canals that brings water to the Phoenix and Tucson areas, will see 50% cuts.
CAP points to low reservoir levels
During the four-hour meeting, CAP employees explained that the most concerning problem is the historic low levels of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Federal officials have signaled that deeper cuts could come if levels drop further.
Water levels on reservoirs further upstream appear to be in much better shape. The federal government released water from those reservoirs earlier this year.
Arizona’s Family Investigates tried to figure out if releasing water could help the situation.
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Sarah Porter, with Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy, said those upstream reservoirs are limited in what they can offer.
“Those reservoirs are very small compared with Lake Powell and Lake Mead, so they look good on a diagram when you’re looking at a cup full of water, but you’re looking at a tiny cup,” Porter said.
The board released the following statement:
The Board of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District voted today to authorize the District to act swiftly in protecting its water users in the rapidly developing legal circumstances surrounding Colorado River operations. This authorization is a necessary procedural step required by Arizona law that ensures CAWCD can protect and defend its rights should legal action become appropriate. Today’s Board action, in conjunction with its prior authorization of $12 million in litigation funding, signals that CAWCD is fully prepared to take future legal actions if a need for such action develops.
CAWCD encourages the Lower Basin States to finalize and execute a Lower Basin agreement to provide stability for water users during this time of uncertainty. Further, the Upper Basin States must be required to implement cuts to their water uses and should not be allowed to increase their uses while the Lower Basin states are making historic and painful sacrifices.
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