On August 16, 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the first-ever Tier 1 Colorado River shortage. The water delivery cutbacks, which went into effect on January 1, 2022, per the “Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Low Basin Shortages and Coordinate Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead” (2007 Interim Guidelines), are most significant for the Central Arizona Project (CAP). Governed by the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, CAP delivers water into Central Arizona for use by tribal, municipal and industrial, and agricultural users.
Education Impacts
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Water Policy Options as Arizona Adapts to a Drier Colorado River: A Perspective
Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - 12:30pm
World Water Day Teach-In
Join Pima County District 5 and the WRRC virtually on Tuesday, March 22nd, at 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. for a World Water Day Teach-In! Supervisor Grijalva's District 5 Office will be hosting this space to encourage the community to learn more about the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project and the challenges we face as a desert community with water conservation.
Friday, March 4, 2022
Arroyo 2022 Special Edition - Addressing Environmental Challenges of Arid Lands
The International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC) was formed in 1989 as an independent, non-profit consortium of institutions with a mission of supporting ecological sustainability of the world’s drylands. The following year, IALC was authorized by U.S. Congress, facilitating over $20M in funding over the next 30 years from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and U.S. AID that was used to support sustainable development and capacity building in arid and semiarid lands.
Tuesday, February 15, 2022 - 12:00pm
Brown Bag Webinar: All In: Confronting Southern Nevada's New Water Reality
Due to prolonged drought, overall snowfall and runoff into the Colorado River Basin are at all-time lows, resulting in the combined water storage in the river's two primary reservoirs—Lakes Powell and Mead—dropping to just 32 percent of capacity. The Secretary of the Interior recently announced the first-ever shortage declaration, reducing the availability of Colorado River supplies to Nevada in 2022. Projections indicate that Lake Mead water levels will continue to decline, and the likelihood of shortage remains high in future years.
Friday, February 4, 2022
Gaining Perspective: Agriculture in Yuma
During the winter months, as much as 70% of the leafy greens found in grocery stores are grown within 100 miles of Yuma, AZ. At the end of January,
Friday, January 28, 2022
Supreme Court to Hear WOTUS Case
On Monday the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) granted an appeal in Sackett v. EPA, a 2012 case involving federal jurisdiction to regulate wetlands on private land under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In the 2012 decision, SCOTUS sided with the Idaho landowners, ruling that the Sacketts have the right to challenge a CWA order from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the court affirmed the lower court’s ruling that the wetland in question was under the jurisdiction of the CWA.