{"id":301434,"date":"2023-05-22T14:27:32","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T21:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=301434"},"modified":"2023-05-24T10:56:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:56:22","slug":"colorado-river-states-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_es\/environment\/water\/2023\/05\/colorado-river-states-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Acuerdo del R\u00edo Colorado: \u00bfQu\u00e9 significa para California?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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En resumen<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

Southern California growers agreed to use less water through 2026 and receive federal funds in return. But it’s not a long-term solution to the Colorado River’s water woes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n

Editor’s note: This story was corrected on May 23 to remove a reference to the Imperial water district receiving a certain amount of federal funds to reimburse growers. That part of the deal has not been signed and an amount has not been determined.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lea este art\u00edculo en ingles<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After nearly a year of intense negotiations, California, Nevada and Arizona reached a historic agreement<\/a> today to use less water from the overdrafted Colorado River over the next three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The states agreed to give up 3 million acre-feet of river water through 2026<\/a> \u2014 about 13% of the amount they receive. In exchange, farmers and other water users are expected to receive compensation from the federal government. An official with the Department of the Interior said the payments could total $1.2 billion and would come from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration has been pushing the states since last spring to reach an agreement to cut back on Colorado River water deliveries. The three-state deal is a historic step \u2014 but it is not final: The U.S. Interior Department must review the proposal. And everything will have to be renegotiated before the end of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In California, the agreement would mostly affect the water supplies of farmers in the Imperial Valley. Coming up with a plan to fairly cut water use has created tensions between farms and cities and between states, especially California and Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know about the new plan, how it will affect California and whether it will bring relief to the West\u2019s vital water supply system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why was this agreement needed?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Colorado River basin has been overdrafted for decades. Its major reservoirs, Lago Mead<\/a> y Lago Powell<\/a>, have been steadily declining, threatening 40 million people in the West with a water supply crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, last June, a top Interior official asked the seven basin states to reduce water use by 2 to 4 million acre-feet per year, or a 15% to 30% annual reduction. The states failed to meet their deadlines<\/a> to come up with a plan. So the Interior Department presented its own proposed actions<\/a> last month, including a controversial one that would cut into the senior water rights of Imperial Valley farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unhappy with those federal proposals, California, Arizona and Nevada doubled down on their negotiations and tried to come up with an alternative. Today\u2019s agreement by the three states to cut water use through 2026 is considered a major, albeit temporary, step. At least half of the 3 million acre feet will be conserved by the end of 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Interior Department has now retracted its plan so it can add the states’ new agreement to the package of options it is considering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton called the agreement \u201can important step forward towards our shared goal of forging a sustainable path for the basin that millions of people call home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who in California does this affect? Will they have to use less water? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The agreement would affect the water supplies of about 19 million Southern Californians in six counties who receive imported water from the Metropolitan Water District. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the impact will be minimal. The district will sacrifice 130,000 acre-feet per year that it usually receives through a transfer arrangement from farmers in the Palo Verde Irrigation District in Riverside and Imperial counties. That water, explained Metropolitan’s manager of Colorado River resources, Bill Hasencamp, will be left in Lake Mead instead. The federal government will reimburse the growers at the rate of $400 per acre foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metropolitan will also voluntarily leave 250,000 acre-feet in Lake Mead this year. That water will be available for the district in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These cuts will not affect Southern Californians this year, Hasencamp said. That’s because rains have greatly boosted supplies from the State Water Project. The state aqueduct delivered only about 100,000 acre-feet to Metropolitan last year, but will deliver 2 million this year. (An acre foot is roughly the amount that three households use per year.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Hasencamp said water conservation, both in communities and on farms, should remain a way of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We need to be cognizant that the West is getting drier,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers in the Imperial Valley<\/a> are the biggest users of Colorado River water. The Imperial Irrigation District announced today that it will reduce usage at farms by roughly 250,000 acre-feet per year, about 10% of its average amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

District officials said they hope to receive federal funds to reward the growers who cut back water deliveries and perhaps fallow crops. They declined to discuss how much they might receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imperial Irrigation District General Manager Henry Martinez applauded the agreement, saying it is \u201cis based on voluntary, achievable conservation volumes that will help protect critical Colorado River reservoir elevations, and in particular Lake Mead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With water from the Colorado River, arid Imperial County has become the ninth largest agricultural producer in the state, reporting $2.3 billion in sales in 2021, led by cattle and lettuce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By acreage, alfalfa and other water-intensive crops used to feed dairy cows and cattle dominate in the Imperial Valley, covering more than half of its farmland. Imperial also produces dos tercios de las verduras<\/a> consumido en los EE.UU. durante los meses de invierno.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Interior Department said it would use the Inflation Reduction Act to pay farmers and other users for saving 2.3 million acre-feet of water. The remaining 700,000 acre-feet \u201cwill be achieved through voluntary, uncompensated reductions by the Lower Basin states.\u201d The Interior Department did not release how much it will spend or who would get the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the Colorado River need in the longer term? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In most years, farms, cities and tribes use around 13 millones de acres-pies<\/a> of the Colorado River\u2019s water, which is significantly more than the 11 million acre-feet of rain and snow that feeds into the river system in an average year. Unless drastic cuts are made, these supplies \u2014 most importantly Mead and Powell, which together contain about 50 million acre-feet \u2014 could essentially run out of water within several years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the new agreement amounts to saving about 1 million acre-feet per year, that\u2019s not enough. Experts say at least twice that much must be conserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the lower basin states use most of the Colorado River\u2019s water, the onus is on them \u2014 especially the biggest user, California \u2014 to come up with the water savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wet winter has eased the emergency. But the relief will probably be short-lived in the arid West, where population growth and worsening droughts are sapping water supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Porter<\/a>, director of Arizona State University\u2019s Kyl Center for Water Policy, said the agreement represents progress, even though more action is needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is another step toward the long-term downward adjustment in how much Colorado River water we as a region can expect to take out of the system,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Porter noted that this plan, because it\u2019s a voluntary one, \u201cgets us toward our 2026 goals without risk of litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metropolitan Water District General Manager Adel Hagekhalil said today\u2019s agreement offers some relief for Mead and Powell, but not a full solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce the agreements are finalized, we must turn our attention to the much greater challenge ahead: developing long-term, post-2026 solutions to the imbalance on the river,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tm\u00e1s sobre el agua<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Los\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Los productores se preparan para ceder parte del agua del r\u00edo Colorado<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

El agua del r\u00edo Colorado transform\u00f3 el desierto del Valle Imperial en una de las regiones agr\u00edcolas m\u00e1s productivas de California. Pero ahora los productores tendr\u00e1n que sacrificar 10% de su suministro debido a la escasez en el suministro del r\u00edo.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\tfoto de avatar<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Alastair Bland<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Estados\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Estados Unidos revela opciones para cortar el agua del r\u00edo Colorado en California\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

Una de las opciones anular\u00eda los derechos de agua de California y dividir\u00eda los recortes en partes iguales entre California, Nevada y Arizona, lo que ser\u00eda un duro golpe para los agricultores del Valle Imperial.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\tfoto de avatar<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Alastair Bland<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t