Arizona lawmakers have mixed views on Colorado River panel

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(The Center Square) – As Arizona and the American Southwest grapple with another year of historic drought conditions, one state senator believes he has an answer.

Sen. Tim Dunn, R-Yuma, Ariz., told The Center Square that he plans on introducing legislation creating Arizona’s first Colorado River Commission when the Legislature reconvenes next year. Dunn's proposal is being met by reactions varying from support to questions over what the commission would accomplish.

Dunn's goal is to have the new commission represent Arizona when the next round of negotiations takes place over the Colorado River Compact, which divides the seven states using the river by two basins. Arizona, California and Nevada are all part of the Lower Basin, and the mountainous states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming make up the Upper Basin.

For now, the lack of a long-term agreement among those seven states has led the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to issue a two-year operating plan, which represents the first time in 50-plus years that the seven states haven't agreed to their own pact. Under the federal plan, Arizona, California and Nevada must make cuts in their water usage, while Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are not required to use less water.

Historically, it's been the job of the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, appointed by the governor, to negotiate on the state's behalf.

Dunn said replacing that single person with a commission would strengthen the state’s bargaining position over how much water it gets.

“I just think this is the time that we bring up the discussion and kind of change the dynamics of how we work with the Department of the Interior and work with the contract holders,” Dunn told The Center Square on Monday.

Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, did not return The Center Square's request for comment on Dunn's proposed commission. 

Water from the Colorado River is used for agriculture, hydropower, recreation, drinking and other needs.

Why now?

Dunn stressed that his calls for a Colorado River Commission had little to do with Arizona’s decision to join Nevada’s lawsuit over river water allotments. Instead, he said, it had to do with starting a conversation around getting the right people at the table to negotiate for the state’s water users.

“Do we want the regulatory agency being the lead negotiator, or do you want to change that up?” Dunn said, referencing the Arizona Department of Water Resources. “My suggestion is that we change that up.”

Arizona Democratic Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan of Tucson said there’s no need to rock the boat along the already turbulent waters of a river that delivers 36% (or 2.8 million acre-feet) of the state’s water on a yearly basis.

Sundareshan said Democrats are willing to discuss changing up the state’s approach to Colorado River discussions, though she wants more specifics on what the new commission would accomplish.

“I don't immediately see what the value of a commission is, given that we already have a lot of robust stakeholder processes where our water rights users are frequently and consistently consulted,” Sundareshan told The Center Square. “And their support is necessary in order for the Arizona Legislature to ratify any Colorado River agreement that's reached between the states.

“And I'm happy to learn more, but right now, I don't know what the additional value of this commission is," she said.

Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, told The Center Square that Dunn's proposal isn't without merit. 

The main question she has is how such a commission would satisfy the needs of the state's water users in ways that previous regulators haven't. 

"In the end, we have a lot of different Colorado River water users with different priorities and essentially different sway, and a state-formed commission can't override that," Porter told The Center Square. "So we know there's a need to have stakeholders get together and hash through the issues, and I think a commission could be very helpful."

One thing that a commission could do, in Porter's opinion, is represent all of the state's water users in a standardized manner so there's continuity in place as deals between the states renew in the near future. 

River redundancies

Dunn has cited a resolution by U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Queen Creek - HR 10420, which authorizes $19 billion for water supply and infrastructure investments across the American Southwest. Biggs is running against Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, in the Nov. 3 gubernatorial race.

Biggs' resolution, which was introduced in mid-September, has not been taken up formally. Still, Dunn said he hopes it will become law, complemented by a Colorado River Commission in Arizona advocating for water users in ways that regulators of the past have not. 

“Being a farmer from Yuma, water has always been on my radar,” Dunn said. “But we are coming into January and our new session, and that's why you start working on these kinds of things.”

Porter said she wonders how such a commission would handle Arizona's complicated water relationship between municipalities and the 22 federally-recognized tribes that call the Grand Canyon State home. 

She also would like to know how areas that are lower on the Central Arizona Project's water use pecking order will pan out in the long run. The project is a 336-mile, $4 billion canal that goes from Lake Havasu to Tucson.

Still, Porter said she can see a future where having a commission at the water negotiations table, rather than a single person, could pay dividends. She said there's strength in numbers.

For Democrats in the state Senate, Dunn’s proposal raises more questions than answers, with Sundareshan wondering how such a commission would make a meaningful difference when compared to the work that the state’s existing water regulators conduct on a biennial basis.

“I'm happy to learn more, but right now I don't know what the additional value of this commission is,” the minority leader said. “Then, secondarily, that given how much the press release talks up Congressman Biggs' late-breaking efforts to weigh in on water issues, it seems like it is more intended to buttress Congress and Rep. Biggs’ lack of water expertise going into the election more than anything.”

Porter said there's hope in the fact that the Senate is looking at creative solutions for Arizona's natural resources.

"Sen. Dunn's proposal is couched in a larger discussion about what do we do next," Porter said. "We should be looking as a basin at the types of investments in infrastructure and water supply projects that will keep everyone resilient.

"And it's good to see that because we have a lot of reverberations from not having a seven-state plan," she added. "And it really will take collective effort of multiple states in the basin to work on finding solutions to keep economies chugging along."

Elsewhere in the Southwest

As Arizona considers creating its first Colorado River Commission, California and Nevada already have their separate Colorado River panels. Utah has its Colorado River Authority of Utah, and Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming manage their water resources through state agencies. In addition, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming have representatives on the Upper Colorado River Commission.