The Interior Department has signed off on a new plan to conserve water resources along the Colorado River.
The department has signed Arizona, Nevada, and California’s plan to preserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water from Lake Powell and Lake Mead through 2026. Secretary Deb Haaland has agreed to use Inflation Reduction Act money to compensate water users up to 2.3 million acre-feet or reductions.
The remaining acre-feet would either go uncompensated or be paid by state or local funds.
The seven states that share the waterway are negotiating a longer-term plan for cutting back on water use for the whole river.
The river serves 40 million people and irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland.
