The House and Senate this month each unanimously approved legislation directing the Interior Department to implement the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan. The plan is a multistate agreement that aims to protect the river’s two primary reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, against shortages that could stem from ongoing drought.
The Colorado River’s seven basin states – Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming – agreed to the drought plan last month, but congressional approval was necessary to allow the Interior Department to implement it. The necessary legislation, H.R. 2030, easily passed each chamber earlier this month, and President Trump subsequently signed it into law on April 16.
The Drought Contingency Plan updates 2007 guidelines for water operations on the Colorado River, which is in the midst of a nearly two-decade-long drought. Among other provisions, the agreement outlines shortage cutbacks that affected states will contribute if Lake Mead drops below certain elevations.