By Jeniffer Solis | Nevada Current
Federal officials announced Aug. 15 they would continue water allocation cuts on the Colorado River for the fifth consecutive year following a persistent drought that’s shrunken the river’s largest reservoir.
The Bureau of Reclamation announced that Tier 1 water cuts — the least severe shortage condition — would continue next year to preserve water levels at Lake Mead, which supplies about 40% of Phoenix’s water.
Federal water managers decide shortage levels each year in August, based on projected water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell for the start of the following year.
Lake Mead’s elevation is currently at about 1,054 feet above sea level – 175 feet below what’s considered full. Based on water storage, the reservoir is at 31% of capacity. Friday, Reclamation projected that, by the end of this year, water elevation will be only a foot higher.
The water cuts are aimed at Arizona and Nevada, which will lose 18% and 7% of their annual allotment of Colorado River water once again. Mexico, which also receives water from the river, will see its annual allotment reduced by 5%, federal officials said.
The continued cuts underscore “the importance of immediate action to secure the future of the Colorado River,” said David Palumbo, the Bureau of Reclamation’s acting commissioner in a statement, adding that “we must develop new, sustainable operating guidelines that are robust enough to withstand ongoing drought and poor runoff conditions.”
Arizona’s cut amounts to a loss of 512,000 acre-feet of water for another year.
