The Central Arizona Project has filed a motion to intervene in Nevada’s federal lawsuit challenging a federal plan that curtails Colorado River water supplies to Arizona, Nevada, and California. The legal challenge targets the U.S. Department of the Interior’s framework for managing the dwindling river, which delivers water to the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
Federal Framework Threatens Water Supplies
The federal plan could theoretically deplete the entire canal supply during dry years without forcing mandatory cuts on the four Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. CAP General Manager Brenda Burman stated at an Oct. 27 news conference that the United States has given itself the ability in its framework documents to take the CAP system and all water users—including over 50 municipal and industrial users and 11 tribes—down to zero. Burman emphasized that this outcome would devastate central and southern Arizona, noting that the system supplies at least some water for 80% of the state’s residents and 90% of its economy.
The Colorado River is shrinking. And cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix are investing billions in water recycling, conservation, and new infrastructure as they race to prepare for a future with less water.➡️Explore the story from #ClimateCentral: https://t.co/bz8k6mIsNR https://t.co/fy3ZCZTmQQ
Compacting Obligations and Lower Basin Cuts
The legal dispute centers on compliance with the Colorado River Compact and subsequent agreements ensuring Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico receive 8.23 million acre-feet annually, measured as a 10-year rolling average past Lees Ferry in northern Arizona. The river failed to deliver that required volume over the decade ending Sept. 30. While Arizona and CAP oppose the long-term federal plan, they remain committed to a separate, state-proposed Lower Basin agreement. That agreement requires California, Arizona, and Nevada to reduce their water rights by 1.25 million acre-feet annually in 2027 and 2028, with Arizona absorbing 760,000 acre-feet of the initial cuts over those two years.
Litigation Strategy and Economic Concerns
Tom Buschatzke stated at a press conference that Arizona seeks to protect the integrity of the Lower Basin agreement through the litigation. Both Arizona and Nevada argue that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s August decision unfairly forces the Lower Basin states to shoulder the entire burden of bringing demand in balance with dwindling supplies. They contend the federal environmental analysis failed to examine potential severe economic damage to the Las Vegas area and Central and Southern Arizona, and maintain that CAP is not legally junior to the Upper Basin states.
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