California communities exposed to hazardous dust by a drying lake bed have found themselves at the center of tensions between Arizona over how to conserve water along the overtaxed Colorado River.
PHOENIX — California communities exposed to hazardous dust by a drying lake bed have found themselves at the center of tensions between Arizona and California over how to conserve water along the overtaxed Colorado River.
Federal officials in June said the states must dramatically cut usage as key reservoirs risk dropping so low they can't produce hydropower or supply water users. But the states blew through an August deadline without a plan. Congress has dedicated up to $4 billion in part to pay farmers and cities to use less water, but its impact remains unclear.
California officials and the community group Alianza Coachella Valley were surprised by Kelly's letter. They said it's unfair to use communities exposed to environmental harms as a bargaining chip. As farmers and cities across the West face diminishing water supplies, anxiety about Arizona’s future water access has become a major issue particularly in cities like Phoenix and Tucson.Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado, tribes and Mexico also hold rights to the river's water. It helps supply drinking water to an estimated 40 million people plus countless farms that grow vegetables and crops for the nation.
The savings California offered in October — 400,000 acre-feet of water annually — make up about about one-fifth of the minimum amount federal officials say needs cutting across the basin. Withholding money for cleanup projects around the lake “would affect real communities already suffering from higher rates of asthma and other health problems," Silvia Paz, executive director for Alianza Coachella Valley, said in a statement.
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