Experts warn AZ water supply will be impacted by drought conditions

the lack of rain adding to our long-term drought situation to really see the impact just take a look at the colorado river in a statement released earlier this month the arizona department of water resources and the central arizona project say they expect the first ever shortage declaration for the river next year that means huge cuts to arizona's share of the water supply our impact earth team focusing in on the role climate change plays in all of this meteorologist jorge torres showing us how the colorado river water supply got to this point and what it means for our state in the near future that we are facing a drier future right we need to plan for that drier future we can't expect to get the same amount of water we did in the past the experts in charge of managing arizona's water supply out with a serious warning the resources are suffering because of climate change and drought but we are responding appropriately to what's happening and and we're prepared for it to get worse this is ted cook general manager for the central arizona project or cap he oversees the 336-mile system of aqueducts and pumping plants delivering 1.5 million acre feet of colorado river water per year to maricopa panal and pima counties making up half of arizona's water allotment there's only one problem in recent years because of uh drought and potential shortage we've been taking a little bit less than that leaving some behind in lake mead the once dependable rocky mountain snowmelt is anything but due to the effects of climate change a 2020 study by the u.s geological survey links the dwindling flow of water with the loss of what is known as albedo where the snow's reflected quality with less snow the ground and air above the mountains heat up causing any lingering moisture to evaporate into the atmosphere instead of trickling down into the nearby streams leading to the colorado river and eventually to lake mead since 2000 the once healthy water supply here started dropping the lake level at its lowest dropped more than 140 feet action needed to be taken 2007 we put the first layer of this plan together the interim guidelines tom buschke the director of the arizona department of water resources referring to a set of guidelines the lower basin states agreed to stating each state except california would put a percentage of its water allotment back into lake mead if the lake level reached a certain tier a good start but more needed to be done in around 2012 or 13 the basin state representatives water providers recognized that that plan in 2007 wasn't enough the risks were too high of lake mead falling while a new agreement was in the works the central arizona project voluntarily left more than 12 percent of its annual allotment or 192 thousand acre feet inside lake mead between 2015 to 2019 preparing for an uncertain future in 2019 the trout contingency plan was signed all lower basin states including california would reduce their water allotment even more under the same tier system additionally it introduced a new tier that we called tier zero because we didn't have any smaller numbers than one tier zero would mean a mandatory reduction of 192 thousand acre feet for arizona if the level at lake mead was below 1090 feet which it was in 2020 and in 2021 since the cap was already doing this voluntarily nothing changed for its water users what hasn't changed is the expansive drought in the southwest intensifying over the past year meaning a first for lake mead and the people that rely on the water stored here looking forward into 2022 all indications are that we will be in a tier one for the first time which is 512 000 acre foot reduction for arizona that's nearly a third of the central arizona project's annual allotment this reduction eliminates access to c.a.p water to agricultural customers mainly in panel county the farmers and ranchers in these areas will have access to ground water and help from other water users but not this water source that they've had at their disposal for decades in total we would i believe be right now in tier two today if all of that voluntary conservation and then the job contingency plan conservation that kicked in had not occurred not ideal but a necessary step to ensure that bigger reductions won't happen in the future we will have enough water but it won't be perhaps the same amount of water that we've enjoyed historically for impact earth jorge torres abc 15 arizona taking vaccine

Channel: ABC15 Arizona

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Keywords: Experts warn AZ water supply will be impacted by drought conditions

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Length: 4min 46sec (286 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 26 2021