(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussions purposes only.)
Opinion: Arizona loses every time it blunders into a Colorado River war, former Gov. Bruce Babbitt says. We cannot do that this time with the Drought Contingency Plan.
Bruce Babbitt, opinion contributor | Arizona Republic
Arizona is once again at a critical decision point in the ongoing struggle to secure our water resources. If we fail to take the right course, we risk igniting yet another Colorado River water war.
Lake Mead, from which we draw our share of the Colorado River, is dropping to perilous levels. In order to stabilize lake levels and protect our water supply, the Department of Water Resources has negotiated an agreement with California and the other basin states to begin reducing water diversions from the Lake.
California and the other basin states are ready to sign the agreement, known as the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP). Arizona is the lone holdout, mainly because our state Legislature, caught up in special interest demands, has failed to ratify the DCP agreement.
