Colorado’s River

The view from 14,000 ft. … The Great Alfalfa War … And an aquatic haunted house.

When Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in January that she wanted $3 million to pay for a legal battle over Colorado River water, officials in Colorado sat up and took notice.

They pointed out that Colorado had its own “long-standing litigation fund,” along with lawyers at the state attorney general’s office who were focused specifically on negotiations over the River.

Arizona’s announcement was all “posturing” and “saber rattling,” a lawyer told Northern Colorado’s KUNC. Arizona and the other Lower Basin states are “trying to make it very clear they are willing and open to litigate this issue because they think they have the higher hand.”

It was just one move in the decades-long chess game played by the seven states that use the Colorado River.

The Water Agenda has been plowing through the high-stakes negotiations over the River, with an eye on an upcoming deadline to hammer out a new agreement.

Today, we’re hopping across the negotiating table and looking at the River, and water in general, through the eyes of one of Arizona’s partners/rivals: Colorado.

The great divide

First, a little context about water and Colorado.

The biggest, longest-running political fight over water isn’t between Colorado and the other states that use the River.

It’s between the people who live on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains and the people on the plains east of the mountains.

The intensity is on par with Phoenix city-dwellers complaining about farmers in rural counties using so much water, although the issues are slightly different.

You see, in Colorado, it’s all about the snowpack. That snow melts and flows down the mountains, eventually providing water to people in 19 states, from California all the way to Kentucky.

But within Colorado, they have a fundamental problem: Most of the water in Colorado is in places where it can’t really be used.

About 80% of the state’s precipitation falls west of the continental divide. But that’s not where most Coloradans live. The vast majority live east of the continental divide.

As you can imagine, this has been a problem since the mantra of Manifest Destiny brought settlers en masse in the 19th Century.

“Many tales of woe exist because the water is where the people ain’t, and the people ain’t where the water is,” Duane Vandenbusche, a history professor at Western Colorado University, told Rocky Mountain PBS.

But the water agreements Colorado has struck with other states, like the ones that deal with the River, are still a big deal. Because of them, Coloradans can use less than 40% of the water in their streams and rivers, according to Colorado State University.

Like Arizona, agriculture uses the lion’s share of water in Colorado. Even more so, actually. Roughly 86% of Colorado’s water goes to agriculture, compared to 74% in Arizona.

All the while, they’re watching climate change and aridification dry up their land.

And some of their cities, like Colorado Springs, are booming. As each new resident arrives, they pull a little more water from the state’s supply.

The politics

The argument from Colorado officials is that Lower Basin states like Arizona need to live in “reality” and deal with the River as it “actually” exists, not the River they “dream for.”

Colorado, meanwhile, is more concerned with snowpack. And since they already have to deliver a set amount of water to the Lower Basin states like Arizona every year, when the snowpack is disappointing, they consider it a de facto cut to their water supply.

Colorado’s Commissioner to the Upper Colorado River Commission Becky Mitchell laid out her state’s priorities for the post-2026 deal.

A key part of any agreement should be recognizing that water users in the Lower Basin are “not more important” than water users in the Upper Basin, she said.

And Lower Basin states need to handle their own water consumption issues, she said. They “cannot continue to exceed available supplies” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

In Arizona, officials are on the defensive, demanding specific, deep cuts to how much Upper Basin states like Colorado will be able to claim under any new agreement.

Just this week, Hobbs hosted a roundtable to discuss the Colorado River negotiations, where she highlighted the cuts Arizona already has accepted.

"We're at a time of high anxiety," said Central Arizona Project president Terry Goddard. "It's a time of shortage, and everybody's going to pay a price. We've already paid ours."

Hobbs said “it’s been more than a little frustrating” and “the upper states need to be willing to take their share as well.”

Like she did in January, Hobbs said the state needs $1 million in a legal defense fund, calling it a “strong signal” that Arizona will be “prepared to defend our water.”

"Time is short. We have a very intense schedule over the next couple of months," said Arizona’s water director, Tom Buschatzke.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin was in Arizona yesterday, joined by three local congressmen, to grant Arizona “primacy” in permitting all six classes of underground injection wells, which are used for everything from disposing industrial waste to sequestering captured carbon dioxide deep underground.

“Primacy” means a state can manage the permitting process normally handled by the EPA. Arizona has become the fifth state to receive primacy for these injections wells.

Gov. Hobbs, other state officials, and industry groups championed the move, arguing that quicker, home-grown decisions will protect groundwater without federal red tape. Environmental advocates counter that Arizona must prove it has money and staff to police wells rigorously, warning that any leak could jeopardize the desert’s limited aquifers.

“Arizona has long prioritized securing authority over underground injection wells, and I’m encouraged to see the EPA take this important step forward,” Hobbs said.

Zeldin fielded just three questions from the press at the signing, all concerning PFAS rather than injection wells.

In response to a lawsuit and demands from water providers, this week, the EPA announced it will rescind and reconsider standards for four PFAS (PFHxS, PFNA, GenX and PFBS) while giving water systems two extra years (until 2031) to meet the remaining limits. The agency is keeping the ultra-strict four-parts-per-trillion cap on PFOA and PFOS.

Zeldin tried to drive home the message that the EPA is not aiming to “weaken” regulations, but rather follow the lawful procedure in setting limits, which the lawsuit claimed the EPA hadn’t followed when the limits were adopted under the Biden administration.

He even argued that the process could result in stricter PFAS limits than those originally adopted.

Critics fear the pause slows cleanup for communities already coping with PFAS contamination, while water utilities cheer the breathing room on costly upgrades.

The Alfalfa Generals: A coalition of farming, ranching and municipal interests is moving to block Attorney General Kris Mayes’ lawsuit against Fondomonte, the Saudi-owned alfalfa farming company, that seeks to curb its groundwater pumping, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. The group’s attorney, David Brown, argues Mayes has no legal basis since Arizona law allows unlimited groundwater use outside regulated “active management areas.” They worry Mayes’ case — using an untested “public nuisance” claim — could set a precedent endangering lawful water users statewide if it succeeds. Mayes counters that Fondomonte is exploiting Arizona’s lax water rules and depleting precious aquifers.

“The doctrine of reasonable use permits an overlying landowner to capture as much groundwater as can reasonably be used upon the overlying land,” said the attorney, who claims the doctrine protects landowners from the impacts of their water use on other water users.

Use less or “useless”?: The White House announced a rollback of federal “low-flow” water efficiency rules, claiming regulations on faucets, showerheads, toilets, and other fixtures have made appliances more expensive and less effective. A presidential memo directs agencies to rescind or loosen standards set under a 1992 law, calling them part of a “radical green agenda” that burdens Americans. Water publication Circle of Blue notes U.S. household water use has steadily declined since the 1990s thanks to such conservation measures — average use fell from 105 gallons per person per day in 1990 to 83 gallons in 2015.

“It’s not like people’s habits changed. Better technology really drove the reduction. And there’s room for more improvement if we adopt the best technology out there today,” researcher William DeOreo told Circle of Blue.

Dollars for droughts: A bipartisan group in Congress, led by Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah, introduced the Restoring WIFIA Eligibility Act to help Western states fund water projects. The bill would remove red tape in the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan program by clarifying that local projects with some federal cost-sharing can still qualify for low-interest federal loans. Supporters say it will boost investment in critical water storage and treatment infrastructure across growing Western communities facing drought challenges.

You can boost investment in critical water reporting by paying into the WATER program: Water Agenda Tequila & Espresso Reimbursements.

Water is life: A 33-year-old hiker died in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains after his group of five ran out of water during a trek in extreme heat. The group had hiked about six hours from the Wave Cave trailhead east of Phoenix when the man collapsed; bystanders and firefighters attempted CPR but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials noted the day’s temperature hit 102°F and urged hikers to avoid midday outings in such heat, stressing that people should pre-hydrate days ahead and acclimate to high temperatures to prevent similar tragedies.

Just use your imagination: Phoenix has purchased a nearly 30-acre industrial property on the Rio Salado, or Salt River, for $29.5 million to incorporate into the ambitious Rio Reimagined revitalization project. The site — currently an asphalt plant — will be cleared after the lease ends in 2028, making way for new public amenities along the river such as parks, restaurants, a hotel or an outdoor events space. In response to inquiries, city officials stated that the adjacent riverbed will not be filled with water.

A fight between a rockfish, a feral hog, a common starling, and a carp.

Waterskiing with samurai swords and trashcans.

Democrats convincing Donald Trump to build a “zone of chaos” to keep out foreign invaders.

Government agencies turning animals into double agents to spy on other animals.

And a “Godzilla” monster that could make its way to Arizona.

What do these stories have in common?

They’re all the same story.