Interior Secretary Norton Opines on Colorado River Allocations
The following article concerning
California’s allocation of Colorado River water by Interior Secretary
Gale A. Norton was published by the Denver Post on Sunday, March 2, 2003. It
was carried in the Perspective section of the newspaper. This 800-word piece is
being distributed for your information and use. For more information, contact
Frank Quimby at 202-208-7291;
frank_quimby@ios.doi.gov.
Perspective
Norton's duty: Allocate
supply
By Gale A. Norton
Sunday, March 02, 2003 - Meeting the nation’s dynamic needs for
reliable and adequate sources of water is one of the greatest natural-resource challenges of the 21st century.
America’s finite supplies face ever-increasing demands
from both traditional and new water users, including municipal, industrial,
agricultural, and environmental needs. This is a critical challenge in the
West, but communities across the nation face similar problems, especially
during prolonged drought.
As the nation
and the West grow, we in the Department of the Interior are working closely
with states, tribes, counties, local communities, and citizens to secure and
wisely manage these precious resources. For example, our Bureau of Reclamation,
which manages projects that supply 10 trillion gallons of water a year to 31
million people in the West, works with state and local agencies to make the
most efficient use of limited supplies. This collaboration develops water
banking agreements, voluntary water transfers, and improved water conservation
and management. The president’s 2004 budget would further stretch
existing water supplies through several initiatives, including an $11 million
investment in desalination research, water-saving technologies for irrigation
systems, and strategies to improve water management.
The looming
challenges for water management were recently illustrated by my decision to cut
back on California’s access to Colorado River water, after water users in the state failed to
meet the first deadline of a long-term plan.
The secretary
of the interior is “water master” for the lower Colorado River. In this role, I have the obligation to enforce
the laws and agreements that establish the quantity of water allocated to each
of the seven Colorado River basin states.
In 1928,
Congress determined that California should be allocated 4.4 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River. California irrevocably agreed to this allocation in 1929 in
order to assure Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada that their respective shares of water from the Colorado River would be protected in perpetuity.
For decades,
other states permitted California to draw more than its share, but as the populations and economies of
the other basin states blossomed, they came to need their full shares.
Interior and the basin states have worked with California for a decade to develop a plan to help it
gradually reduce its overuse of the Colorado by 2015.
It was
clearly understood by all the parties that if California failed to meet the requirements of this
“soft landing,” an immediate cutoff would be required—the
so-called “hard landing.” By ramping down voluntarily, California would have extra water during the
transition—water that would otherwise not be available.
The first
step under this plan was for various water users in California to voluntarily divide the state’s share
between them, so they could collectively live within California’s overall cap. The agreement reflecting this
division had to be signed by Dec. 31, 2002. Despite considerable efforts by California water users, state officials and Interior, the
deadline passed and the state lost its access to extra water.
Interior did everything appropriate to help California keep its 70-year-old promise, including helping
the state work through complex environmental issues. Interior’s Bureau of
Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have worked closely with California agencies on environmental-impact statements and
Endangered Species Act consultations.
State and
local concerns about the Salton
Sea played a considerable
role in the negotiations about dividing California’s share. The Salton Sea, near Palm
Springs, is a
man-made lake fed by Imperial
Valley farm runoff, and
it is gradually drying up. It is home to many migratory waterfowl, including
endangered species. Efforts to conserve irrigation water may lessen water
flowing into the sea.
The Salton Sea Restoration Act required Interior to provide a
report on alternatives for restoring the sea, and my predecessor sent the
necessary studies, reports, and plans to Congress in January 2000. Since then,
Interior has worked with Congress to refine and analyze alternatives to
restoring the sea—with an emphasis on engineering feasibility and cost
estimates.
In January, I
delivered a status report on these efforts to members of Congress. This report
confirmed what everyone already knew: Even if it is possible to
“restore” the Salton
Sea, it will be very,
very expensive. Based on what we know today, the alternatives for Salton Sea restoration range from almost $1 billion to more than $30 billion.
Congress and
the state of California will have to wrestle with the tough question of
whether to allocate scarce funds to the Salton
Sea in light of other
national priorities. However, the outcome of this debate will not and cannot
affect my obligation to hold California to its irrevocable promise in 1929 to live within
its share of the waters of the Colorado
River.
Any other
course would be a betrayal of my responsibilities to all of the people who
depend on the river.
Secretary of
the Interior Gale A. Norton is former attorney general of Colorado. She can be reached at gale_norton@ios.doi.gov.