Colorado official calls Arizona ‘a big pain in the ass’
By Daniel Rothberg | The Nevada Indepenent
(Editor’s note: This is a follow-up report to Spat between Arizona and California is damming Lake Mead plan)
Colorado River managers find themselves in an odd position. They are at once moving closer to and farther away from sealing a drought contingency plan they’ve been negotiating since 2015.
In a packed room last week at Caesars Palace, about 45 minutes from a more-than-half empty Lake Mead, Arizona, California and Nevada water managers affirmed their commitment to the drought plan. Nevada is ready to sign the plan. But California is working through a few issues, and in Arizona, several in-state agencies are arguing over how to manage the river.
“Our challenge is growing, not contracting,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, adding that he needs to get legislative approval for the plan.
