Western States Agree to Water-Sharing Pact

[donsu]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/us/10water.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


Facing the worst drought in a century and the prospect that climate change could yield long-term changes on the Colorado River, the lifeline for several Western states, federal officials have reached a new pact with the states on how to allocate water if the river runs short.

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The new accord, outlined by federal officials in a telephone news conference Friday, spells out how three downriver states — California, Arizona and Nevada — will share the impact of water shortages. It puts in place new measures to encourage conservation and manage the two primary reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which have gone from nearly full to just about half-empty since 1999.

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But with water levels in reservoirs dropping, a record eight-year drought, the prospect that climate change could bring more dry spells and new scientific analyses suggesting the West could be drier than has been traditionally believed, the states were pushed to act.

These factors “forced the issue to the head and we decided to do something unique and different,” Mr. Guenther said.

The agreement, the product of two-and-a-half years of negotiation and study, establishes criteria for the Interior Department to declare a shortage on the river, which would occur when the system is unable to produce the 7.5 million acre-feet of water, enough to supply 15 million homes for a year, that the three downriver states are entitled to.

Water deliveries would be decreased based on how far water levels drop in Lake Mead and Lake Powell. The Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the river system, predicts about a 5 percent chance of such a shortage being declared by 2010, but it all depends on how much the states are able to conserve and, of course, the weather.
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good luck

[Angela Shelley]

1. A few years ago, while driving through southern Utah

we stopped at a small gas station. An older couple was sitting on the bench outside, drinking lemonade. We commented on the "diminishing status" of Lake Powell and the man said "God is only testing us, we have to be strong".

[eleny]

2. I wonder what will happen when they run out of lemonade