The drought in the US West pits towns and industry against farms as they compete for water

In Arizona, dead fish are found in the bed of a dry reservoir. A small Utah town in the north could run out water within months. In Colorado, a rancher sold a fifth herd because stock ponds were empty. The Colorado River system is a link between the?communities, supplying water to 40?million residents?across 7 Western states and Mexico. It also irrigates millions acres of farmland. The Colorado River system has been a major source of water shortages in the basin for decades. This is due to the drought that has lasted over a decade, the record low winter snowpack this year, and the hottest month on record. Farmers are at odds with residents in cities and suburbs, as well as industrial customers such as data centers and solar projects. Federal officials are considering drastic cuts to the water allocation from the Colorado River for Arizona, California and Nevada.

Nancy Caywood, a farmer in central Arizona near Casa Grande, must pay $21,000 annually to her local water board even though the river ran dry in March. Her alfalfa-and-cotton farm, which is about 250 acres (100 hectares), relies solely on irrigation water from the San Carlos Reservoir located on the Gila River. Demand from towns and farmers has reduced the capacity of the reservoir by 1% in a particularly bad snow year. Herons and Pelicans are now feasting on the bass and carp that litter its parched surface.

"We've hung on to the aquifer for almost 30 years," said Caywood. He has leased neighboring fields that have access to water from an aquifer. "There are people who approach you asking if you would like to sell your property to install solar panels."

FARMS and SUBURBS

Jace Miller, a fellow Pinal County farmer, is in his fifth generation of farming there for 107 years. He hopes to involve his son with his business despite the fact that more than half of his fields have been left fallow because of the drought.

In 2022, the Colorado River was largely unavailable to him as municipal users were given priority.

Solar companies and housing developers are purchasing the agricultural land that he leases to the south of Phoenix.

He called on Arizona to put a stop to residential development, saying that the farmers were vital to?the food security of the country. Miller called for innovative solutions that go beyond tapping aquifers. He suggested cross-country pipelines for water similar to those used for oil. He said, "You can't keep stealing water from agriculture."

Michelle Ugenti Rita, a candidate for city council in Scottsdale, a wealthy suburb of Phoenix, says water that was previously used to farm could be used to meet the city's needs.

Scottsdale, which has about 250,000 residents, struggles to find alternative sources of water. 70% of the city's water comes from the Colorado River. Ugenti Rita stated in a phone interview that purchasing groundwater rights from other towns and farmers was one of the possible solutions.

The agricultural community is a major user of water. "Is this where the water should go?" Ugenti Rita, a Republican former state senator, posed the question. Brad Udall, a scientist at Colorado State University, said that Arizona's vast groundwater reserves under its desert are unique in the world and have allowed for the state's populations to double over a period of four decades. He said that this resource is not renewable and shouldn't be relied upon. He said that Arizona's water requirements were "a monster you have to keep feeding."

At the Headwaters, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation may adopt a large part of a proposal from Arizona, California and Nevada - known as Lower Basin States - to reduce their Colorado River use by 21% per year until 2028 in order to maintain critical reservoir level.

This proposal has intensified a long-running disagreement over how to split the River's shrinking flow between the?downstream States and the Upper Basin States of?Colorado New Mexico Utah and Wyoming which are the home of the Rocky Mountain headwaters. These seven states may end up in court. Colorado rancher Robbie LeValley only cultivated a quarter her normal hay after snowmelt water irrigation ran out two month early. Hay prices tripled on the Western Slope, just east from one of the largest drought areas in the United States rated as "exceptional", which is the worst level. LeValley's husband's family, who has been running a ranch near Hotchkiss in Colorado since 1910, had similar problems in 2010 and 2012

She denied that agriculture was to blame for Colorado River water problems. "We benefit." LeValley stated that "we are not the issue." The only water source for Emery's 330 residents is the Muddy Creek. It feeds the Colorado River when the weather is good. It is only running at 6% normal volume due to the extremely low snowpack on its Wasatch Mountains headwaters.

Residents use the water from their baths and dishes to keep plants and trees alive.

Jack Funk, 61, the mayor of the town, is testing springs and old wells to see if they can be used. The town will then have to begin trucking in water, unless alternative sources are found or precipitation occurs.

"Everyone thought we wouldn't run out of water because Emery is not a large town, but we have," said Funk. Reporting by Andrew Hay, New Mexico. Editing by Donna Bryson & Cynthia Osterman

(source: Reuters)