By Ian James | Arizona Republic
Arizona’s water agencies, cities, farmers and tribes haven’t quite sealed a Colorado River deal. But they’re getting closer.
The outline of a new compromise proposal emerged this week and was presented at a meeting on Thursday. The plan would help Arizona join in a proposed three-state Drought Contingency Plan by spreading the impacts of the water cutbacks, providing “mitigation” water to farmers in central Arizona while paying compensation to other entities that would contribute water.
The deal, if it’s finalized, would help boost the levels of Lake Mead, which have fallen to near-record lows and are approaching a threshold that would trigger a first-ever declaration of a shortage by the federal government.
