Wednesday, the states of California, Nevada and Arizona have announced a voluntary agreement to reduce water consumption of the Colorado River. In addition to the three states, Mexico was included because part of the country is part of the lower Colorado River basin.
The deal was called “500+ Plan” leading states to voluntarily give up water to reduce stress on Lake Mead and Lake Powell. The intent of the plan is to keep an additional million acres of water in the lakes over the next two years.
Like this, another 500,000 acres of water to be preserved in Lake Mead in 2022 and again in 2023. In addition, funds will be requested from the lower basin states: $40 million from Arizona, $20 million from Nevada, California and the Central Arizona Project, while the federal government will provide $200 million.
Thursday, Utah Governor Spencer Coxhe said it was time for lower basin states to start cutting back on water use, because it was no secret that the three aforementioned states had been drawing too much water from the Colorado River for several decades.
“The Lower Basin has been abusing its portion of the Colorado River for years. Everyone knows that the upper basin states have absolutely underspent their amounts compared to the lower basin states, and California is the most striking example of this,” the governor said during his PBS Utah monthly news conference.
However, if the water deficit persiststhe states of California, Nevada, Arizona and Mexico, may require Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico to reduce their water consumptionas the purpose is to preserve the water supply, during a drought.
Meanwhile, experts have revealed that soil moisture is 7.6 percent higher than average for this time of year. Which means good news, as the snow the Colorado River receives melts and goes directly to the deposits.
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