Historic Water Agreement

Back to Map Page August, 1999 Historic Agreement on Water Allotments in Southern California On August 3 a historic water agreement in southern California made a step toward resolving disputes over Colorado River water, disagreements that have been brewing since the 1930s. For decades California has been taking the largest share of river water, substantially more than it was allotted in a 1930's agreement between states bordering the river. The August preliminary agreement between three water management agencies was precipitated by an ultimatum from Bruce Babbit, head of the Department of the Interior. Either California would prepare a plan for reducing its excessive consumption by August 3 or he would simply cut off the extra water.   Farmers and cities, states and regions fight over precious water in the arid West. The Colorado was divvied up among seven southwestern states by the Colorado River Compact, a Depression-era agreement signed (eventually) by California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. These states divided among themselves the entire estimated annual flow of the river, a precious resource in the water-impoverished Southwest. Aside from its failure to save any water at all for Mexico or for Indian communities in the region, the compact had a major central flaw: it calculated water allotments on the basis of unrealistically high river flow. In most years the river contains only a portion of the water that all the states consider their due. For most of this century there was little dispute because many of the states didn't use all their water anyway. Arizona's meager population centers, for example, were separated by mountains from the river, so that they couldn't make use of the water. California's growing cities and its growing agricultural industry simply continued to increase their imports, piping and pumping water from the river to San Diego, Los Angeles, and especially to the Imperial Valley (see related article on the Imperial Valley), where Colorado River water irrigates more than half a million acres of lettuce, tomatoes, and melons. Today the water balance has changed in the southwest. Arizona has completed the gargantuan Central Arizona Project, which pumps water over the mountains and down to the exploding Pheonix metropolitan area. Nevada's population is also booming, and demand for water is growing. Meanwhile, southern California has three water management boards, two rural-based and one urban, which have been arguing for years over whose fault it was that the state was consuming too much water. The August 3 agreement, while still tentative, lays out a framework that allows cities such as San Diego to purchase water from farmers, thus more easily redistributing water among California consumers. It also sets up plans for reducing the excessive water consumption, but gradually--assuming the other compact states agree to let California over-consume for a few more years. To read more, see Environmental Science, A Global Concern, Cunningham and Saigo, 5th ed. Water suplies: dams, reservoirs, canals: p. 426-32 Water availability and use: p. 419-21 Water resources: p. 412-14 Environmental Science, a Study of Interrelationships, Enger and Smith, 7th ed. The California Water Plan: p. 302-3 Water management: p. 274 Kinds of water use: p. 278-82 Water use planning, water diversion: p. 291-92 For further information, see these related web sites: Press release from the Department of the Interior, August 4, 1999 Summary from the California Legislative Analyst's Office Review of the Colorado River Compact USGS information on water resources in California Back to Map Page feedback form | permissions | international | locate your campus rep | request a review copy digital solutions | publish with us | customer service | mhhe home Copyright ©2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of the The McGraw-Hill Companies.