ST. GEORGE, Utah — Utah will begin negotiations soon with other states along the Colorado River in hopes of hammering out a new agreement to manage the vital water source.
"We've reached out to the lower-division states and anticipate we’ll meet with them in the next week or two," Gene Shawcroft, the Colorado River Commissioner for Utah, said in an interview with FOX 13 News.
Shawcroft was here at a meeting of the Utah Water Users Association, where he updated canal companies, state agencies, water districts and other stakeholders on the high-stakes negotiations. The Colorado River flows through seven states and Mexico and it supplies water to more than 40 million people.
States in the upper and lower basins of the Colorado River have submitted proposals to the federal government. Not suprisingly, they are not on the same page. But Shawcroft said everyone is willing to keep talking.
"What we submitted isn’t the final deal," he said.
There's motive to hammer out an agreement. If they don't, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the courts could make decisions for them and states could be forced to live under deeper cuts and regulations.
Last year at a power summit of political, environmental and other groups with a stake in the Colorado River, California signed a deal to use less water. Shawcroft praised that move.
"We are extremely pleased with the lower-division states willingness to do that," he said.
But asked what upper division states like Utah are willing to offer, Shawcroft replied: "What we’ve offered is what has been happening over the last 20 years. We would have used more water had the physical water been there."
Shawcroft suggested Utah is willing to keep living with what it has and allow water to keep going to fill Lake Powell and Lake Mead, but doesn't want to see it siphoned further by the downstream states.
The impacts of these negotiations will impact communities like St. George, which exists on the Virgin River, a tributary of the Colorado River. Zach Renstrom, the general manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District, said he would like to see Utah be able to use the water as it sees fit.
"I just want them to continue talking and having those hard discussions," he said.
There are other groups watching the Colorado River negotiations with interest. Ed Andrechak, the president of Conserve Southwest Utah, said a state-based solution is better than a federal solution because there would be better compliance and good will. But Andrechak said all sides will need to make concessions.
"There’s less water in the Colorado River, 20% less since the turn of the century and with climate change and aridification in the West, the projections are that it’s going to drop another 10 to 15% by 2050," he told FOX 13 News. "Given those numbers, we have to use less water."
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will issue an environmental impact statement later this year with a new agreement in 2026. Shawcroft was confident the states can find consensus.
"We'll focus on the things that we can agree to. There may be things that we will not be able to agree to," he said. "And Reclamation could be in a position to have to split the baby in half, if you will, make some kind of decision. However, we believe, I still believe we can come to terms on many things."
