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The Bureau of Reclamation on Wednesday released a draft environmental study that examines alternatives for managing the Colorado River during periods of drought and water shortages.
Among the options is the agreement forged last year by the seven Colorado River Basin states - Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico in the upper basin and Nevada, Arizona and California in the lower basin - that defines the conditions under which lower basin shortages would be declared and creates a plan for the joint management of Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
But that option vies with several other alternatives in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS).
One calls for voluntary, compensated reductions in water use to minimize involuntary shortages in the lower basin and avoid "curtailments" on Colorado River water use in the upper basin. Another would seek to maximize water deliveries at the expense of storing more water in Powell and Mead, reducing deliveries only when there is insufficient water in Mead to meet lower basin entitlements.
A third alternative envisions storing more water in Powell and Mead by reducing deliveries and increasing shortages to benefit power companies and recreational users. The fourth, no-action alternative, provides a baseline to compare the other options.
"They've covered quite a wide latitude," said Robert King, chief of the Interstate Stream Section for the Utah Division of Water Resources. "You've got maximized reservoir storage, maximized water supply and other alternatives that fall somewhere in between."
"We would prefer the basin states alternative," King added, given the sometimes tortuous negotiations that led to a deal. Choosing another option, he said, means a likely trip back to the bargaining table.
The Interior Department and Bureau of Reclamation declared the need for new guidelines governing Colorado River water use during water shortages because of the worst drought the basin has experienced in a century. During that period, which began in 2000 and extends to this year, reservoir levels in Powell, Mead and elsewhere dropped from full, or nearly full, to less than 60 percent capacity.
The bureau hopes to have a final decision on the EIS by the end of the year.