WASHINGTON, DC – This month, Congressman David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) introduced H.R. 7078, the Equal Access to the Colorado River Act, to ensure Arizona is treated fairly during Colorado River shortages by requiring proportional cutbacks across the Lower Basin states based on their original legal apportionments.
This bill amends the Colorado River Basin Project Act to ensure that, during times of drought or reduced availability of mainstem Colorado River water, the Lower Basin States, Arizona, California, and Nevada, share water cutbacks proportionally based on their original legal apportionments.
The Colorado River Basin Act was introduced in 1968 and represented a significant investment in Arizona’s water infrastructure. Notably, this act provided the resources for wide-ranging water infrastructure development and significant regional water plan development in the lower basin of the Colorado River. Specifically, Section 1521 created the Central Arizona Project, which led to the development of water infrastructure connecting rural, water-deficient areas to the Colorado River. Today, Central. Arizona Project extends 336 miles.
Despite its growing population and critical municipal needs, Arizona bears a disproportionate share of water cuts due to its junior status under existing law and legal precedent. This bill corrects that imbalance by requiring pro rata reductions in water deliveries across all three Lower Basin states, based on each state’s baseline allocation: 4.4 million acre-feet for California, 2.8 million acre-feet for Arizona and 0.3 million acre-feet for Nevada.
“Arizona families and businesses shouldn’t be punished by an outdated framework that no longer matches today’s reality,” said Congressman Schweikert. “This is about taking responsibility and setting a clear, enforceable standard so every Lower Basin state shares shortage reductions according to the allocations they were given. If we want a sustainable future for the Colorado River, we need rules that are fair, modern and built for the drought conditions we are actually living in.”
Specifically, H.R. 7078 updates Section 301(b) of the Colorado River Basin Project Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to apply pro-rata reductions to consumptive-use diversions from the Colorado River in times of shortage, relative to each state’s base annual apportionment, and without preference to present perfected rights.By ensuring a fairer, more equitable distribution of reductions, this legislation marks a critical step toward modernizing Colorado River policy for a future of sustained drought, growing demand, and increasingly limited water resources in the West.
More information on the bill can be found here.
Discussion draft of full bill text can be found here.
