As outlined in an article in the Arizona Daily Independent, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation will cut Arizona’s Colorado River by 20 percent as of January 1, 2023. This on top of a roughly 40 percent voluntary cut that Arizona Rep. David Cook contended should cause the bureau to “treat proactive states like Arizona well, because we’ve been taking steps well in advance of this crisis.”
That didn’t work. Instead, in the opinion of Arizona Department of Water Recourses Director Tom Buschatzke: “It is unacceptable for Arizona to continue to carry a disproportionate burden of reductions for the benefit of others who have not contributed.”
Of the many criticisms the article points out, the perceived failure of “officials in Phoenix” to “involve all stakeholders in water conservation plans” drives the AAG to simply be included as an active participant in the way forward instead of mandated without input.
