MOAB, Utah — Governor Spencer Cox said he sees the potential for a short-term deal between states along the Colorado River, which provides water to more than 40 million people in the American West.
"I suspect if we get one there will be a short-term agreement and then working on a longer-term phase," Gov. Cox said in response to a question from FOX 13 News at an event on Tuesday. "But that remains to be seen."
The states along the river have been negotiating a new agreement but they've struggled to come to consensus. Upper and Lower Basin states have each demanded the other make deeper cuts as they grapple with drought and a horrible hydrology. On Tuesday, the river was moving low and slow. Spring runoff appears to have been nonexistent.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has ordered up to a million acre-feet of water to be released from Flaming Gorge to prop up Lake Powell, keeping it generating electricity for millions, and to prevent the entire Colorado River system from collapse. Utah and surrounding Upper Basin states agreed to it.
"We all have to sacrifice in this," Gov. Cox said. "We’ve got senior water rights that go back to the 1860s that aren’t going to get any water this year."
Utah's governor indicated the drought has forced everyone back to the negotiating table.
"This drought is not good and the lack of water in the Colorado is really, really bad," he told FOX 13 News. "Yet, it’s forcing us to have the hard conversations."
Within the past couple of weeks, governors for the states along the river met again with U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Gov. Cox said. He said he felt encouraged by the discussions and it might avoid lawsuits between the states over water.
"The tone was much more collegial, that there was going to be cooperation and all the parties agree we want to keep having these conversations," Gov. Cox said. "That going to court is not the best way to solve the issues."
There does appear to be some bright spots in the ongoing negotiations. While some states like Arizona have signaled they are willing to fight for their position (and Utah recently passed laws to defend its stake on the river), Gov. Cox went out of his way to praise California.
"I'm going to say nice things about California. They’ve been great to work with on this issue," he said.
But one environmental group said what's being discussed in terms of cuts and reductions is just "reacting to crisis after crisis." John Berggren with Western Resource Advocates called for more discussion on unresolved environmental issues and conservation.
"An ideal solution would be a long-term plan that fundamentally fixes the problem. The problem being overuse and climate change," he told FOX 13 News on Wednesday. "If we had a long-term plan that reduce uses across the basin either through mandatory reductions and shortages or voluntary conservation and contributions and we systematically use less water in the basin? That would help get us out of crisis to crisis mode."
Berggren said he supported an idea floated by Upper Basin states to use the services of a mediator in hopes of reaching agreement. He said the decision by the federal government to release water from Flaming Gorge will also help protect endangered fish in the Colorado River system.
The agreements between the states over the Colorado River system will expire in October.
This article is published through the Colorado River Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University. See all of our stories about how Utahns are impacted by the Colorado River at greatsaltlakenews.org/coloradoriver
