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Peace - on the Colorado River, at least - is at hand.
Representatives of the seven Colorado River Basin states announced Friday they have reached a tentative agreement about how the river will be managed during water shortages. The deal culminates a year of sometimes stormy negotiations between upper basin states Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico, plus California, Arizona and Nevada in the lower basin over how the river's precious resource should be shared.
"Everybody feels pretty good about it," Larry Anderson, director of the Utah Division of Water Resources, said after two days of meetings at a Las Vegas hotel. "We knew we were pretty close yesterday. I don't think anybody wanted to see us fail."
The stakes are enormous.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton late in 2004 gave the seven basin states until February to submit a joint proposal for an ongoing federal environmental-impact study that will determine shortage criteria for the river. Had they failed to do so, Norton would have imposed her own operating plan, which likely would have sparked a legal war between the upper and lower basins.
"We now have an opportunity to avoid a significant confrontation," said Don Ostler, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission.
And that may be the biggest benefit for Utahns and the basin's other 30 million residents. Legal disputes would cost millions of dollars to settle and potentially stall future water projects, such as the proposed Lake Powell pipeline, which will allow Utah to tap Colorado River water for the first time in a major way.
"It gives us peace on the river and allows us to develop our water resources," said Anderson. "This is something that should keep the basin states in harmony for many years."
Water officials cautioned that Friday's agreement is not yet official. The deal must be drafted, then submitted to the seven basin states. Anderson plans to brief Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and legislators next week.
Specifics of the pact were also kept under wraps. But in general terms, it will extend to 2025 and:
l Modify and coordinate the operation of the Colorado River's two major reservoirs - Lake Powell in the upper basin and Lake Mead in the lower basin - in order to ensure that neither suffers at the expense of the other. When Powell's water level is up and Mead's is low, upper basin officials will have the discretion to release additional water to the lower basin, beyond the yearly 8.23 million acre-feet they are committed to provide. Conversely, lower basin users will accept less than the 8.23 if Mead is up and Powell is faltering.
l Settle the amount of water shortage that Arizona, the lower basin's junior partner, will accept when such decreases are deemed necessary. If Lake Mead dips to a certain water elevation, Arizona will take an initial cut of several hundred thousand acre-feet, and more if the water line continues to drop.
l Create a way for fast-growing Nevada to take additional Colorado River water as it develops groundwater resources over the next decade, mainly by improving water efficiency elsewhere in its system. When Nevada's groundwater pumping becomes operational, it will revert to its normal take from the river.
The push to revamp the river's operating rules began in late 2004, when Norton first announced her intent to rewrite them following a five-year drought that reduced water supplies in Powell and Mead to historic low levels.
An attempt by the states to forge an agreement last spring failed, forcing Norton to issue a midyear review in which she ordered the upper basin to release the normal 8.23 million acre-feet out of Powell to the lower basin, over the upper basin's objections. It wanted more water left in their depleted reservoir.
Bureau of Reclamation officials, who oversee dam and river operations in the basin, were relieved by Friday's announcement.
"They were well aware that they needed to get something worked out," said bureau spokesman Barry Wirth. "And based upon what we know, they seem to be making real progress."
But both sides acknowledged they needed the pressure of a deadline to make it happen.
"That had a lot to do with it," said Kay Brothers, deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "We had agreed on some things previously, but this was fish or cut bait."
Not everything is settled. No agreement was reached on how to make Friday's deal binding. Under the rules of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, the lower basin can still demand additional upper basin water beyond what the new agreement calls for. But in the wake of just-completed negotiations, officials are hopeful.
"This time we got down to the details and talked about about the real hard issues. Prior to that we had avoided them or talked around them," said Upper Colorado executive director Ostler. "The fact that we talked about them this time is what raises my optimism."