President Donald Trump recently signed off on a piece of bipartisan legislation that aims to help manage ongoing drought conditions and climate change impacts throughout the Southwest.
The signing of the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan into law will cut back on water use in the Colorado River, which serves 40 million Americans as a water source, in an effort to keep reservoirs Lake Powell and Lake Mead from falling too low.
Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) had previously hailed the Senate’s passage of the bill. “This bill is a bipartisan, multistate solution to a multistate problem, and nothing should stand in the way of it becoming law as soon as possible.”
The Drought Contingency Plan — an agreement between Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, California, New Mexico and Nevada — establishes voluntary water conservation measures that will help manage prolonged drought conditions and regional climate change impacts. The alternative to the plan would likely include dramatic water delivery cuts should reservoir levels fall below certain thresholds.
The plan calls for reduced water use through 2026 while the involved states are to start negotiating about more severe reductions to cope with a long-term water shortage on the Colorado River.
President Trump also tweeted about the bipartisan accomplishment after signing the bill into law:
Just signed a critical bill to formalize drought contingency plans for the Colorado River. Thanks to @SenMcSallyAZ for getting it done. Big deal for Arizona!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2019
