Top Biden administration officials are vowing to consider a wide array of proposals to ensure the future of water supplies of the Colorado River Basin, while touting recent emergency efforts to address shortfalls on the drought-ravaged waterway.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton co-authored an op-ed published Sunday in the Arizona Republic, as the Biden administration considers new long-term operating plans for the Colorado River.
“We are harnessing the best available science to create robust and adaptive guidelines that can withstand the impacts of ongoing drought and a changing climate,” Haaland and Touton wrote. “Every viable option is being explored as we seek solutions that address the diverse needs of all that depend on the basin.”
The river is divided into two regions under a 1922 agreement with Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the Upper Basin and Arizona, California and Nevada in the Lower Basin. They each receive 7.5 million acre-feet of water annually.
