Environmental groups demand that the Trump administration exercise the federal government authority to stop the use of water in an effort to address the chronic water shortage of the Colorado River.
In a petition presented on Tuesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council and nine other groups requested the United States Advertising Office to enforce federal regulations indicating that water deliveries in California, Arizony Rason Rason.
The petition points in particular to wastewater practices in agriculture, which represents approximately three quarters of water deviations from the Colorado River, said Mark Gold, director of Water Shortage Solutions of the Council.
“There is definitely a lot of improvement margin in the agricultural sector,” Gold said. An example of waste, he said, is that the irrigating agricultural fields throughout the year in the desert to cultivate intensive water crops, such as hay.
Alfalfa and other types of hay are used to feed cattle and another cattle, and in recent years they have exported legs in growing amounts to China, Saudi Arabia and other countries.
“The export of these intensive water crops is similar to the export of water itself, a resource that is urgently required nationwide,” wrote the leaders of environmental groups in the petition. They added that a large part of the cultivation lands in southern California that are based on the water of the Colorado River is “irrigated through flood irrigation, which uses much more than drip and spray irrigation.”
The farmers and managers of the agricultural agencies of the water, such as the imperial irrigation district of California, have Tasks are separated into water savings programs. Producers have said that they are willing to Change to more efficient water systems in water To release water and increase the levels of deposits, as long as they are paid enough to help pay the invoice.
However, those in agriculture have also pointed out that in many areas they have water rights that date back to more than a century, which entitles them to higher priority in assignments and cuts. And many farmers have said that they would be opposite schemes in which a government agency could try to dictate what crops plant.
The leaders of the groups that presented the petition, including Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Orange County Coastkeeper and Utah Rivers Council, held to which the government should also consider the use of wastewater in cities and indies.
They pointed out purely ornamental grass irrigation in cities, as well as “inefficient industrial processes that use more than necessary due to outdated evaporative cooling systems.”
The Colorado River provides water for cities from Denver to Los Angeles, 30 native tribes and agricultural communities from the rocky mountains to northern Mexico.
Gold called the “beneficial use provision” a very important tool to guarantee a sustainable future for the Colorado River and the 40 million people who trust it. ”
“The trade office has the authority and the obligation to stop waste and protect this beautiful resource,” he said.
The river has been used in excess for a long time, and its deposits have decreased dramatically in the midst of persistent dry conditions since 2000. The average river flow has been reduced approximately 20% since 2000, and scientists have estimated that approximately half of that decrease has been caused by Global warming Driven by burning fossil fuels.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest deposits in the river, are full of 33%.
The seven states that trust the river are under growing pressure to negotiate new rules to deal with scarcity after 2026, when the current rules expire. But those conversations bone in an impasseWith persistent disagreements that face representatives of the three states in the lower river basin, California, Arizona and Nevada, against the four states in the upper river basin – Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.
Some water and expert managers have Previously suggested That the Federal Government must ensure the necessary water cuts by establishing a definition that would sanction the “beneficial” use of water from “unreasonable” water waste. It is believed that the legal request of environmental groups is the first attempt to force federal officials to act on that authority.
“The water levels of the Colorado River are decreasing due to climate change, and this trend is expected to persist and get worse,” said the environmental group in the petition, adding that unless the federal government changes APVORNIA, Whial Thesa, Whwiiforda, Whwivada, “the growing disparity between the supply and demand of a severe crisis.”
Much of the Colorado river water is used for agriculture. In study Published last year, the researchers found that alfalfa and other cattle feed crops consume 46% of the water that deviates from the river, which represents almost two thirds of the use of agricultural water. The investigation also found that agriculture is the dominant user of the water of the Colorado River, which represents 74% of the water that is diverted.
The petition focuses on a federal regulation entitled Part 417which requires that the advertising office guarantee that its water deliveries in the three states of lower basin “do not exceed the reasonable ones required for beneficial use.”
“Our findings are that the agency is not fulfilling this requirement,” said Cara Horowitz, director of the Frank G. Wells environmental clinic of the UCLA, which represents the groups.
“We hope that the agency will see the urgency of improving its water delivery process to avoid wasting the water of the Colorado River, especially given the construction of our supply,” said Horowitz in an email. “But if not, we are prepared to consider the next steps, including litigation.”
