California and six other states face a federal deadline Saturday, Feb. 14, to come up with an agreement on how to use the Colorado River’s dwindling water supply.
The seven states along the Colorado River Basin, including California, already blew past a November deadline on the matter without repercussions.
So far, the states haven’t been able to agree on what the needed water cuts from the river should look like.
“The inability of the states to view that they are all in this together and all agree to take some cuts and all agree to work for the common good of the nation is very disturbing,” said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies.
While the Colorado River provides drinking water for roughly 40 million people across seven states and Mexico, Schmidt said the river’s flow is slowing.
“In the 21st century, the total amount of water — that is what we call the natural flow of the river — is 13% less than it was for the middle and late 20th century,” Schmidt said.
He added that major reservoirs along its path, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are exceptionally low.
“We have very low storage right now, and we’re in the midst of an exceptionally poor winter — poor snowpack,” the researcher said.
A warming climate and overuse of water are the culprits of the problems, according to Schmidt.
“We’re going to have an immediate crisis this spring and summer because we're going to get very little boost into the reservoir storage, into the income of the bank account,” he said.
Located in California's southeastern corner, the Imperial Irrigation District (IDD) is the single largest user of Colorado River water.
They also hold some of the senior water rights to the Colorado River, making their supply more secure amid future cuts.
San Diego gets some of that water.
Overall, the San Diego region gets about 60% of its water supply from the Colorado River. That includes some supplies purchased from the Metropolitan Water District.
In 2003, the San Diego County Water Authority made a deal with the IDD to buy water saved through conservation efforts at Imperial County farms.
KPBS reached out to the Water Authority, but no one at the agency was available for comment.
IDD declined an interview, but last month it released a statement that said, in part, the district “has played a leading role in stabilizing the river through conservation.”
The statement also said, “Through voluntary conservation programs, since 2003, IID has conserved more than 9 million acre-feet of Colorado River water through 2025, more than twice California’s annual allocation.”
Whether or not the states can come to an agreement by the Feb. 14 deadline, the federal government can step in at any time to implement its own conservation plan for the Colorado River.
The current water rights agreements expire at the end of 2026.
