5 minWorld
Arizona desert town caps growth as Colorado River crisis deepens
Cave Creek, Arizona, is limiting new development and reviving old wells as the Colorado River shrinks. A new federal plan will not spare the town from further cuts, and Nevada has sued over the reductions.
The mayor of Cave Creek, Arizona, compares the Colorado River crisis to planning for a meteor strike: visible on the horizon, impossible to dodge, and uncertain in its ultimate damage. The desert town of about 5,000 people, which relies on the river for nearly all of its water, has already capped growth, reactivated old wells, and negotiated water deals. Mayor Robert Morris says those steps may not be enough to keep the community afloat as the river basin faces a deepening shortage.
The river supplies 40 million people across the U.S. West, and its flow has been reduced by climate change, sustained demand, and overuse. Cave Creek was forced to make cuts this year, and a new federal plan will require further reductions. Morris described the predicament bluntly: “You can see it coming, but you can’t get out of the way and you don’t know what the damage is going to be.”
The uncertainty extends far beyond Cave Creek. Seven U.S. states, tribal nations, and Mexico depend on the river system. Farmers are weighing which crops justify the cost of planting. Phoenix could lose municipal and industrial water for the first time and would have to tap backup supplies. Households across the region could see higher water bills as utilities scramble to secure alternative sources.
Nevada escalated the conflict this week by suing the Interior Department and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The state argues that basic needs in the Las Vegas area will go unmet if it must absorb planned reductions of up to 70% of its Colorado River allocation over the next decade. The bureau declined to comment on the litigation on Thursday.
“The uncertainty is going to continue to build in the wrong direction,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
The system’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both hit record lows this month. Eight other reservoirs operated by the Bureau of Reclamation recorded their lowest levels in at least 30 years. Among them are Elephant Butte Lake in New Mexico, which supplies crops in southern New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico; Green Mountain Reservoir in Colorado; and Guernsey Reservoir in Wyoming, which serves farmers in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska.
Under the federal plan, California, Nevada, and Arizona will collectively cut water use by 1.25 million acre-feet annually over the next two years, enough to fill more than 600,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Larger reductions could follow depending on conditions. Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico are not required to make cuts for now, though they could volunteer to reduce usage.
Forecasters say El Niño could bring heavy moisture to the northern Rockies and the Southwest in coming months, but it will not erase decades of drought. “Drought is a slow-moving phenomena and it can take some time to come into it and also come out of it,” said David Mocko, a senior research scientist who helped produce a recent U.S. Drought Monitor map.
Farmers are already adjusting. John Boelts, who grows vegetables, melons, durum wheat, and other crops in Yuma, Arizona, said the region produces about 90% of the leafy greens eaten in North America during winter. Farmers there hold high-priority water rights and may avoid cuts over the next two years, but Boelts said the reprieve is not enough to support long-term planning. He is reluctant to plant new acreage, especially for orchard crops like citrus and dates that take years to become commercially productive.
“There’s no food that we grow in a hurry,” said Boelts, who also serves as president of the Arizona Farm Bureau. “Beef takes years to produce. The lettuce you eat today? A farmer was working on how they would grow that crop six plus months ago.”
Ray Martinez grows alfalfa on land belonging to the Colorado River Indian Tribes, which hold some of the river’s oldest rights. The tribe’s Arizona allocation is large, but an aging irrigation system and missing infrastructure keep much of the water out of reach. Martinez and the tribal water department are worried about finishing the current growing season. He has left some fields unplanted for years to help support Lake Mead. If the reservoir keeps dropping, he said, surface water for his farm and neighboring operations will be further limited.
“Unfortunately, Mother Nature has its own way of doing things, and we have no control of that,” he said.
