As concerns grow over the future of the drought-plagued Colorado River system, the Biden administration has announced how it intends to pay farmers, cities and Native American tribes in the Southwest for significant, voluntary water cuts
. The money is coming from $4 billion in drought relief funds in the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ recent climate law, and is primarily focused on encouraging water cuts in the three lower Colorado River Basin states – California, Arizona and Nevada. The Interior Department said the new program will pay applicants a fixed amount of money per acre-foot of water they can leave in drought-stricken Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir.
In June, US Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said that Colorado River states must negotiate a way to slash 2-4 million acre-feet of water usage per year – which is as much as 30% of their total usage. As those difficult negotiations continue, some hope the federal money will provide a financial cushion for communities, farmers, and Native American tribes make cuts and leave more in the country’s largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
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