NEWS

Arizona can deal with drought, Senate panel told

Bill Theobald
Republic Washington Bureau
  • The West is gripped by drought%2C but Arizona has prepared for such a crisis%2C a Senate panel was told.
  • A 1980 groundwater law has helped the state avoid a water shortage%2C an Arizona water official said.
  • The Department of the Interior should not help California at Arizona's expense%2C the official said.

A "bathtub ring" on Lake Mead in late 2014 shows how far the water level has fallen.

WASHINGTON – Witnesses presented a bleak picture of the ongoing drought in the West during a Senate hearing Tuesday, but there were a few rays of hope.

First the bad news:

• Seventy-five percent of the land in the 11 westernmost states is facing abnormally dry-to-exceptional drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

• California has ordered a 25 percent reduction in water use by non-farm users.

• Washington has declared a statewide drought emergency and is predicting $1.2 billion in crop losses this year.

• Oregon has declared a drought emergency for 15 counties.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who as chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee convened the hearing, said she visited California recently and "saw whole fields of beautiful healthy citrus trees that were literally bulldozed over because there was no water."

But Thomas Buschatzke, the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, testified that tough steps taken by the state years ago have prepared it for current weather conditions.

In particular, he cited a 1980 state law that mandated conservation requirements for municipal, industrial and agricultural water use and required a 100-year renewable water supply before new housing could be built. One result, he testified, was that Arizona's dependence on groundwater dropped from 53 percent in 1980 to 40 percent today.

"Arizona is not in a water crisis and is well situated to deal with the drought," Buschatzke said.

Still, he said the focus is now on the Colorado River, the source of 40 percent of Arizona's water. If Lake Mead falls below 1,075 feet (it is now at 1,076 feet), the state will lose 320,000 acre feet of its annual 2.8 million acre feet of Colorado River allocation, under Bureau of Reclamation guidelines.

Experts estimate there is a 33 percent chance of that happening in 2016, Buschatzke said, and a 75 percent chance for 2017.

Additional declines in the lake would prompt further cuts in the state's water allocation from the Colorado.

Nevada would also see cuts, but California would not.

Buschatzke cautioned that any attempts by the Department of the Interior to help California should not be at Arizona's expense.

"Arizona already takes the lion's share of the shortages," he said in his written testimony.

Michael Connor, deputy secretary of the Interior Department, testified drought conditions are likely to get worse because of climate change.

He said the department recently announced $49.5 million in water-conservation projects; $24 million for water-efficiency grants; and $23 million for construction of seven water reclamation and reuse projects.

He said the situation in California, where 94 percent of the state is experiencing severe to exceptional drought, has also prompted extraordinary cooperation in managing scarce water.

"The collaboration and cooperation has been as historic as the drought itself," Connor said.

Committee member Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said water is a constant subject in his state, even without the drought. Gardner said state officials estimate Colorado will need an additional 600,000 to 1 million acre feet of water a year by 2050.

If that additional water isn't found, it could mean 500,000 acres to 700,000 acres of farmland will not be planted, he said.

More water is needed, Gardner said, despite an 18 percent reduction in per capita water use in the state since 2000.

Generating 800,000 acre feet of new water will cost $15 billion, he said. And even if every water project now being developed is built, the state will still be 180,000 to 500,000 acre feet short.

"Regardless of the issue of drought, the conversation that we have to have on water in this country is real," Gardner said.

He said a three-pronged approach is needed that involves increasing water storage, conservation and more federal, state and local partnerships.

Contact Bill Theobald at wtheobal@gannett.com or follow on Twitter @BillTheobald.