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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session
floodwater harvesting; study; urging Congress
Purpose
Urges the U.S. Congress to develop and implement a diversion dam and pipeline to harvest floodwater from the Mississippi River to replenish the Colorado River.
Background
Arizona ratified the Colorado River Compact, an agreement between the United States, Mexico and the seven Colorado River Basin States in 1944, "to provide for the equitable division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colorado River System; to establish the relative importance of different beneficial uses of water; to promote interstate comity; to remove causes of present and future controversies; and to secure the expeditious agricultural and industrial development of the Colorado River Basin, the storage of its waters, and the protection of life and property from floods." (Colorado River Compact, 1944). The Lower Basin, composed of Arizona, Nevada and California, and the Upper Basin, composed of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, receive entitlement to 7.5 million acre-feet. The Arizona v. California decree outlines distribution of water under circumstances of sufficient and insufficient availability for release and entitles California to senior priority rights over Arizona and Nevada (Arizona v. California, 376 U.S. 340).
In 2005, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior initiated a process to develop guidelines for steps taken if the water levels of the Colorado River reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, continued to decline. In 2007, the Lower Basin states and Mexico agreed to the Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead (2007 Interim Guidelines), which developed strategies to deal with historic drought conditions resulting in water shortage in the Colorado River system. Under the 2007 Interim Guidelines, the water users receive decreased water deliveries depending on water supply shortage, which is determined by the water level of Lake Mead.
In 2019, the Legislature authorized the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, on behalf of the state, to forbear Arizona's rights and claims to Colorado River water by entering into an interstate agreement, known as the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP). The Lower Basin DCP is a draft agreement between Arizona, California and Nevada that requires additional water contributions to Lake Mead, contingent on determined lake elevations, and to incentivize additional water conservation. The Upper Basin DCP is a draft agreement between Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming designed to protect critical elevations in Lake Powell and to create a process for storing additional water in the Upper Basin.
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Urges the U.S. Congress to fund a technological and feasibility study of developing a diversion dam and pipeline to harvest floodwater from the Mississippi River to replenish the Colorado River and prevent flood damage along the Mississippi River.
2. Urges, if shown to be feasible, the U.S. Congress to implement the diversion dam and pipeline as a partial solution to the water supply shortage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead and the flood damage that occurs along the Mississippi River.
3. Directs the Secretary of State to transmit copies of the Memorial to the President of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Governors of the Mississippi River states of Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin, and to each member of Congress from the State of Arizona.
House Action
NREW 2/11/21 DPA 10-0-0-0
3rd Read 2/2/21 54-6-0
Prepared by Senate Research
March 15, 2021
KN/RA/gs