With Western states deadlocked in negotiations over how to cut water use along the Colorado River, the Trump administration has called in the governors of seven states to Washington to try to hash out a consensus.<\/p>\n
The governors of at least four \u2014 Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Wyoming \u2014 say they\u2019ll attend the meeting next week led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom won\u2019t. <\/p>\n
Newsom is \u201cunable to attend but plans to send key representatives of his administration to attend in his place,\u201d spokesperson Anthony Martinez said in an email.<\/p>\n
Representatives of the seven states that depend on the river have met regularly for two years trying to agree on how much less water each will take after the current rules expire at the end of this year. <\/p>\n
Federal officials have told the states\u2019 leaders to come to an agreement, giving them until Feb. 14.<\/p>\n
The states are \u201cactively engaged and doing the hard work needed to reach consensus,\u201d said JB Hamby, chair of California\u2019s Colorado River Board, who will attend the meeting.<\/p>\n
Hamby said California will \u201ccontinue to lead\u201d with real commitments of water reductions \u201cbecause shared responsibility means every state has to do its part.\u201d California has used less water the last three years under a temporary deal, with farmers being paid to leave some of their hay fields dry<\/a> part of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cMy expectation for this meeting is that everyone comes prepared to put forward what every state can contribute \u2026 to support the system that sustains us all,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n In the negotiations, the three downstream or lower basin states \u2014 California, Arizona and Nevada \u2014 are at odds with the four states in the river\u2019s upper basin \u2014 Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.<\/p>\n Rhett Larson, a water law professor at Arizona State University, said it\u2019s hard to say whether bringing the governors together might help unjam the negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are pretty technical conversations, and the distance that would have to be bridged is pretty far right now,\u201d Larson said. \u201cSo I\u2019m not sure how much progress is going to be made by having governors in the room, but I think it\u2019s still a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n California\u2019s farmlands and cities use more Colorado River water than any other state. If Newsom ends up being the only governor absent from the meeting, it will look like a snub, Larson said.<\/p>\n \u201cNot going isn\u2019t good optics,\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n Addressing the Colorado River\u2019s crisis is one of the most important issues facing the country, Larson said, and there is a chance that being absent from the meeting might not sit well with federal officials who have authority to order cuts in water use in the river\u2019s lower basin.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy would you want to upset someone whose power is so great?\u201d Larson said. \u201cAnd that power is over your water supply.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s office said the governor couldn\u2019t attend \u201cdue to a longstanding family commitment\u201d and that his aides had tried to see if another date would work, but the Interior Department decided to stick with its plan.<\/p>\n The Trump administration hasn\u2019t said what it will do if there is no agreement. But it released an outline<\/a> this month of four options, each of which could dramatically cut the water available for Southern California and Arizona.<\/p>\n Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a Jan. 12 speech<\/a> that for years the three lower basin states \u201chave regularly brought proposals, offers of collaboration, and a commitment to the long-term health of a river that sustains nearly 40 million people.\u201d<\/p>\n The federal government \u201cmust ensure the upper basin is stepping up and conserving water like Arizona does,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe upper basin states, led by Colorado, have chosen to dig in their heels instead of acknowledging reality,\u201d she said. \u201cAs negotiations continue, I refuse to back down.\u201d<\/p>\n Hobbs is going to the Jan. 30 meeting in Washington focused on protecting Arizona\u2019s farmers and businesses, spokesperson Christian Slater said. She is \u201cglad Secretary Burgum heard her calls for greater involvement from the federal government,\u201d he said, \u201cand hopes the meeting will be a productive conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n As the negotiations remain at an impasse, the possibility of the states suing one another is increasing. It\u2019s a path riddled with uncertainty that water managers in both camps say they hope to avoid. <\/p>\n The Colorado River provides water for cities from Denver to Los Angeles, 30 Native tribes and farming communities from the Rocky Mountains to northern Mexico. It has long been overused, and its reservoirs have declined dramatically amid unrelenting dry conditions since 2000.<\/p>\n In the last quarter-century, the river has lost about 20% of its flow. Research has shown that climate change<\/a> has intensified the long stretch of mostly dry years. Lake Mead, the river\u2019s largest reservoir, is now just 34% full, and Lake Powell, its second-largest reservoir, is at 27% of capacity.<\/p>\n