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~,~,.M'~hio:i.9" .,,(;..;;;;,,;,.,,;..:..,' ,:.;, COlORADO. THE WEST. II States battle over water rights, needs UpperBa&fiturnsup pressure, fearing loss to faster-growing areas downstream 1~,~;;:~k~if~'~0~j ","'.n""."" ~.~f:~ff~';:~:;;:~~~,~~~ i<'''.",,''',mpt'.n.: '. ...:- t.;:., .....'f!TAH:co'" .1.:;t. " .'''d'J,",~,"! .".,. 'c' COLO., .. ~ "~1~;~~; .;i';~,'t;~~r'::~f;~?>:~~ "<~~:L~;""~~"~:d' . ;"~\.~ '. '/ \.~,ve~~ . .._,;",',:'.; cALJF.'~' 'u 'D.,... '0 '} L.~,,'.. .\\ . .,:.,. :5.n~.F~ . i:"'.f -, i. : ~:':1 ..,';:. ,',,,<':' '4 : ~,,~ " 4 By Bill Scanlon NtI&JE~UlTO."lt7ltIJIWrit,.. Before alfalfa fi~]d9 and swim- ming pools. Utes who camped along the banks of the mighty Col- orado must have thought the river would roar forever. Even in dry years, the high- counlry snowmelt would deliver 10 million acre.feet across Colora- do and Ulah, through the Arizona desert and the California valleys to the Gulf of CaliIornia. That was before California be- gan growing al a rale of 300,000 people a year, before Arizona turned a desert inlo home for 3.4- million people. And it was before thefederaJ Bureau of Reclamation helped pay for reservoirs so farm- ers from arid states could flood crops with Colorado River water. This year, 1.5 milhon acre-feet of Colorado River .....ater might reach Mexico. None will make it to the Gulf of California. Six states served by the river wiU get their full allotment or as much as they can use, The sev- enth, California, again will get more that it's entitled to, less than it needs. But these aTe nervolUtimes for Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Ne..... Mex.ico, states that are grow- ing more slowly than the Lower Basin states. The Upper Basin slales are turning up the preS9ure to guarantee they won't lose that water Just becauge they are grow- ing more slowly than their down- stream brethren. California is using 800,000 acre-feet mOre than it's entitled to, and it! needs keep growing withitspopu!atlon. Arizona in 1993 will be using 750,000 more acre-feet than it used in 1990, practically ils entire 2.8 million acre.foot allotment. Nevada, the fastest-growing stale in the union, will be uaing its entire allotmenl within a decade. The four Upper Basin states will share 5.8 million to 6.3 million acre-feet in an average now year, depending on whose attorneys prevail. Colorado ill entitled to about half the Upper Basin amount - 2.8 million to 3.1 milion acre-feet. Co]orado farmers, ranchers and Cities are using only 2 million acre. feet a year. For now, the slate's. supply is adequate, but more slor- age will be needed to accommo- do1tegrowth. If 1993 is an average year, Ari. zona and Cahfornia will clamber for every bit of the waler to which Colorado is entitled but doesn't ,"'. Lake Mead in Nevada may have to be lowered to meet the escaJat- out of Lake Powell, which is our ing demand. storage bucket. that diminishes That means Lake Powell in the amount of water we have for Utah will have to be lowered to delivery to our users," said David equaliae Lake Me<ld. Walker, head of Colorado's Water And tho1t could mean farmers in Conservation Board. "Down the UI~~ ~!1.d.,~'?~a~';lw~I~'~~,;~:. roa~, with a conlin~ed' drought,' less. : .,-" L:':rp'f"~'_;\fli\:J\r,: thats~rF.~con~l;!;TI,~~, ,J~i' .J~ "If we have to make aetivenes . Three' week8. ago, Colorai1o -" ""'" '''If we have to' make deliveries out of Lake Pow- eU; which is our storage bucket, that diminishes '. . the amount of water we have for delivery. . . Down the road, with a continued drought, that's a real concern." DmdW.11ler Coloratkl WaI.,. CDflSmlZlj(1fr' &o>d. . . - Gov. Roy Romer wrote a letter to California Gov. Pete Wilson. He suggested that Ihe Upper Basin could be amicable to the release of extra water from Lake Mead for Californio1ns this year. In return, 'California gradually would wean itself of the extra Colorado River water. That would reassure the other stateJ that the water re- mains theirs, even if tbey don't need it all for a century. The 1922 Colorado River com. pact clearly guarantees each slate its full allotment. But a year from now, reapporlJonment may give Cahfornia an extra 13 congress- men. That's a toto1l of 58 for the Golden Stale. one-eighth of tbe nation's tolal. Wilh that much po-- litif31 muscle, even the grandest compacts can unravel. say up- streamstateofCicia]s. Dee Hansen, executive dIrector of Utah's Department of Natural Resources, wasn't pleased wilh Romer'!lletter. "Why he chose to send a letter to Pele Wilson, I don't know. We already had agreed to help out California and had put together a proposal," Hansen said. . Utah al50 is struck by the irony thai most California farmers will get about 10% or 30% of their normal shares this year, but the farmen served by the Colorado . will. aet full .,haret)~ ~!~~.., t ''''''I''''~19~t\I\',Y ,~~ 9" er all the water the . lOA urban users need. ':What California want! is more than their full supply," Hansen gid. "We said, 'Tho1t'S fine, but we think there should be some credit for doing that.' If in the future, we have to curtail deliveries in Utah, there ought to be some payback." David Walker, head of the Colo- rado Wolter Conservation Board, doesn't want the Upper Basin states to be at risk for the girts they give California. "Give us gUo1rantees that Cali. (ornia will make il up," said Walk- ." Ca]iforma doesn't want to be held hostage during il..<l most vuJ.. nerab]e year, said Jerry Zimmer- man. executIve director of Calif or. nia's Colorado River Board. Beller that the Department of the Interi- or declare that there's enough Wol- ter in the reservoirs to deliver California the water it needs _ with no strings altached,hesaid. California will wean itself of the extra water, with water conserva- tion measures much tougher than Colorado's, Zimmerman said. Meanwhile, the river nows. One week after Romer offered his plo1n, (A]orado Lt. Gov. Mi- chael Calhhan spoke to I gathering of water engineers in Denver. He told them the politician who can solve the Colorado River problem to~the..5aLisf~i;'~ pi, ~ven 1:tA1~,. WIll be embraced as preSidential} timber. ., . . -- - . WATER PRIORITIES. Mow...oftId...llwtMlr . ,"~'.~ hwldW.... lteMIofColD""f w...CDI*.............1 ":.' ".Wean california from Itsovei.,~:. dependence on the rtveI so COlO--~ fadDcan.OW8l8ner'ni'l~' tally aound pace and be eSSLl'td th8waterwlll be \hete for Ihe, Mute. '. .LetC81lfomlallSSllTMlthertsk.-. ftlttMeltrawaterltlalles."n: ~ dl'llllnsLekeMe.t.dOn'U'OICS' ,.... theUpperBaslnJtaleSlOftlllt< .~. belctl.up,shortInaU1elrownl'an'no ,~ ...w:ldtltts.. , ',.'.' 'D..Nauen. '...ut/VedlrsctGr : ..UWII.....rtatentof~ -, . ~eswtth Colorado.1:M: seY' dlscussklns would have been SfnOQtherlltttl'1outGov. Roy. Romer'lletterto Callfomlll, 01'- 1ertnghlsteade,.hlp. . CatIt'omia farmers should glve uplOrne Oftl'leb' CoI0rad0Rtver walerbef0r8 the Upper Basin statesl\ll1lherlskotcutbacks. " ill ThllI LOwer Basin Should Con- '. tllbutelheenlire 1.5mdlion a:te-I'eetthai AmerlC8)'1lBrIy 0WI!lI MiU\Co.lDlnlan lIVe..',. yeartheLDWIlIBaslni81Srncn' thanl'llllfot'the rMf"11IOw. And," , tt\e1oWerl11Dutarlescontllbute ~. en elllnl3fni1lOlucre-fllleunat. :,:' . tNUpperBasa1nevereees. ; . "^""!. . , ' '",;;,." <-,'~'i;,~;f..i}':lI",,':~~;'Ji ~; l;sl~:r~t.t"~B1D~Jl-'1J - -- ~