Arizona Braces for Water War August 25 2005

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The decision to begin raising money for legal action pushes Arizona further into a battle that it had largely avoided in recent years, though the state is certainly no stranger to river wars. Arizona vs. California, a landmark case that helped define the way the Colorado is managed, grew out of Arizona's refusal to ratify the original river compact. "The Colorado River is extremely important to the state of Arizona," said John Sullivan, associate general manager of SRP's water group and a member of the fund - raising committee. "When other states begin to make noises about threatening Arizona's supply, I think the whole state needs to get involved." The threat stems from arguments over how the river and its tributaries are divided among users. In states along the upper river, which include Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah, water taken from tributaries is counted against the states' shares. In states on the lower river - Arizona, Nevada and California - tributaries are not included in the accounting. That means Arizona, the primary beneficiary to the difference in rules, can use water from the Salt and Verde rivers, for example, and still take its full share of the Colorado. Arizona won the tributary issue during negotiations over the original Colorado River compact, the set of laws and agreements that governs the river. But, in recent years, Colorado and other upper river states have argued that the lower river states have abused the rule and, as a result, take more than they should. What may force the argument to the table is a plan by Nevada to divert water from the Virgin River to thirsty Las Vegas, which has exhausted its Colorado River allocation. The Virgin flows into the Colorado at Lake Mead. Officials from Colorado and Wyoming protested the proposal, telling federal regulators it would rob the Colorado River of a significant amount of water. Those states say that, because the Virgin flows into the Colorado, any water taken from it should be counted against Nevada's share. Arizona officials fear that, if the dispute over the Virgin River lands in court, the upper river states could demand that other states account for water taken from their tributaries. In addition, the upper river states could ask the court to force the lower river states to deliver all the water that Mexico gets from the Colorado, an obligation all seven states now share. State officials believe as much as 750,000 acre -feet could be lost. Because the CAP holds the most junior rights to the river, the water would be taken from the canal, leaving it at half - strength. (An acre -foot covers an acre to the depth of 1 foot, or 325,851 gallons. It would meet the needs of a family of five for a year.) CAP officials believe the seven states can forge an agreement and avoid court, but they acknowledge the risk.