Rose Law Group Reporter
Gov. Doug Ducey vowed last week to work with the state Legislature to allocate $30 million to water mitigation efforts so the state can sign onto a multi-state plan to stabilize water levels in Lake Mead, which could soon face a water shortage, Arizona Capitol Times reported on Friday.
Ducey’s announcement coincided with a meeting wherein Arizona water interests were presented with the most complete plan to date on how water cuts could be divvied up among the state’s water users.
The proposal introduced Thursday is complicated and many details still need to be ironed out, but the initial public look shows the plan and mitigation efforts will cost nearly $100 million through 2026 — when water users are slated to shift away from the DCP and renegotiate previous water guidelines.
Mitigation is water-speak for how Arizona water users will be compensated — with water, money or both — for taking reductions in order to build up water levels in Lake Mead, Cap Times reported.
Stabilizing water levels on the lake has become a top priority among Arizona and the six other Colorado River Basin states after the Bureau of Reclamation predicted a shortage could happen at the lake as soon as 2020
