Going through a short drought isn’t easy, but when this lasts for years at a time, it exponentially gets even more challenging. What happens when certain areas need assistance from the neighboring states? Find a way to share, of course.
This is exactly what’s happening in the US right now. Dry seasons aren’t supposed to stretch to two decades, but sadly, it has. At this point, people need to band together to find the solution in which everyone can benefit from.
Here’s the harsh reality: the Southwest area of the United States is currently suffering under the second-driest period in 1,200 years. The story has been repeated time and again, and at this point, it seems as if nothing has been done to address the problem. The dilemma that they’re in is in need of the cooperation and dedication of each and every single one to preserve as much water as possible.
Lake Mead, the site of the famous Hoover Dam, and the chief water supply of a wide and spacious series of desert communities and metropolises. This source is failing because of the drought. The levels have fallen to alarming levels and it has been reported to be at its lowest levels ever recorded. What’s falling is not only the “bathtub ring” of calcium buildups seen in the area, but decades of cooperative drought contingency planning and water conservation infrastructure implemented as well. This is seen not only in the seven states that rely on the Colorado River Basin and Lake Mead, but in Mexico too.
Finally in 2007, the seven states namely, California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, as well as the surrounding tribes, and Mexico have come up with a unified agreement. They all consented to a framework for use of the mighty Colorado River and Lake Mead. This came in the very middle of a current 22-year drought. The act led the federal government to declare the first ever water shortage from Lake Mead, and now, something more needs to be planned and done.
The states went through years of tough negotiations, and each one of them agreed to share the burden of future potential water shortages. This was pursuant to the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan. Sadly, the famous lake levels is expected to drop further below a depth of 1,075 feet in the next year. As a solution, the first round of water cuts will be implemented in the states of Nevada and Arizona, and for Mexico. At 1,045 feet, this level would mean that it will be California’s turn to take the hit and experience the cut.
It was said, “We haven’t had litigation. If you look at any other river basin, they have litigation going like crazy,” Patricia Aaron, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, told the Christian Science Monitor. “Everybody is in this together. It gives me a lot of hope and a lot of confidence. There are a lot of dedicated, smart people working on this problem.”
Mexico, for its part, headed the bilateral contingency plan in 2017. Under current agreements made by the affected areas, Mexico was able to deliver, at minimum, 1.5 million acre feet of the total volume of the Colorado River every year since then. CSM also spoke to Roberto Salmon, former Mexican commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission, about this. He shared, “We knew it was the correct thing to do. We are all trying to save the [Colorado River] basin. The livelihood of millions of people depends on it, including Mexico.”
No Time to Wait
At this point in time, several states have already invested millions of dollars to make sure that when a water shortage in the Colorado or Lake Mead did happen, they would be aptly prepared.
In Nevada, for instance, Las Vegas recently witnessed a seven-billion gallon reduction in water use from Lake Mead as having “little impact.” The move became a result of sophisticated water recycling that sends used water back to Lake Mead. The act also made use of ornamental desert foliage for the beautification of public parks and real estate.
California, on the other hand, uses about three times as much water as Mexico. Hence, the water authorities involved had built reserves during the wet years of 2017 and 2019. They also implemented additional storm drain and wastewater recovery methods to up the water supply. A total of 19 million people living in Southern California now make use of 40 percent less water than they did in the 90s, as reported by the experts of CSM.
Then there’s Arizona. The state has “banked” water in Lake Mead. This means that they pre-delivered a 50 percent storage of its yearly share. They pulled this off by saving accumulated supply over a decade of diversifying it. They did this by drawing on the Salt and Verde Rivers. Phoenix, which has expanded in land size in the past 20 years, has also reduced its water consumption by around 30 percent.
Mexico is found south of the US border. The country agreed to be first in line for cuts made from Lake Mead. This said agreement was written alongside promises made from California, Nevada, and Arizona. They all came together and agreed to invest $31.5 million in conservation and infrastructure projects in the Mexicali Valley. This will allow them to save a total of 200,000 acre feet of water every year.
Everyday citizens aren’t used to feeling that there was no backup in the aftermath of natural disasters or dangerous natural phenomena. However, in the deserts of the Southwest, that’s definitely what’s not happening. Praise needs to be made in the inter-cooperation between state, tribe, city, and nation. This may be the first time this has happened, and the steps they’ve all taken to ensure less suffering is something to be admired. We can only hope that the drought ends soon and that other states can learn something from this.
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