A coalition of environmental and water advocacy organizations have filed a legal petition urging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to stop waste of Colorado River water by users in California, Nevada, and Arizona. The petition, submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the UCLA Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, with support from Waterkeepers and local groups, calls on the Bureau to use its legal authority to ensure water deliveries to Colorado River Lower Basin users are “reasonably required for beneficial uses” and are not delivered for uses that are “unreasonable”.
Under existing federal law, the Bureau of Reclamation is required to prevent unreasonable uses of water from the Colorado River. The petition demands that the agency enforce this responsibility and cease deliveries for uses that do not meet this standard.
Using the water that is already in the Los Angeles region judiciously – through local wastewater recycling, stormwater capture, and investments in efficiency – we can significantly reduce our demand for Colorado River water
“More than 40 million people in seven states rely on the over-stressed Colorado River for their water supply and the West can’t afford to continue to waste water unsustainably,” said Dr. Mark Gold, director of water scarcity solutions at NRDC. “The Bureau of Reclamation has the authority and obligation to stop the waste and protect this precious resource today and for future generations.”
The petition urges the Bureau to define what “reasonably required for beneficial use” means through a public stakeholder process. It also calls for consistent and transparent reviews of how water is being used, and periodic assessments to ensure users in the Lower Basin are not wasting water.
“This petition lays out how—under existing law, and by its own admission in federal court—the Bureau has a mandate to ensure that the water it delivers to California, Arizona, and Nevada is not squandered on unreasonable uses,” said Cara Horowitz, director of the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic at UCLA School of Law. “The petition also makes clear that the Trump administration could take a few common sense steps to come into compliance.”
The petition cites specific examples of waste, including the continued irrigation of decorative turf in desert communities and the use of outdated evaporative cooling systems in industrial settings. Despite worsening drought and declining snowpack, states like Arizona, Nevada, and California still receive 100% of their Colorado River allocations annually.
“Every region that depends on Colorado River water has a responsibility to use that water as efficiently as possible,” said Bruce Reznik, executive director of LA Waterkeeper. “By using the water that is already in the Los Angeles region judiciously – through local wastewater recycling, stormwater capture, and investments in efficiency – we can significantly reduce our demand for Colorado River water. That’s not only the right thing to do for the other people and wildlife that depend on this river for survival, it’s also the smart thing to do in light of the climate change impacts we’re already seeing on the Colorado River system.”
As the Southwest faces increasing climate pressures and dwindling river flows, advocates say this legal action is a critical step toward reforming how one of America’s most vital water sources is managed.
