Nevada sues the Trump administration over ‘catastrophic’ water cuts as the Colorado River spirals into crisis

By Laura Paddison, CNN

(CNN) — Last week the Trump administration announced major cuts to the water Arizona, California and Nevada can take from the drought-stricken Colorado River; this week Nevada sued, calling the plan “fundamentally flawed.”

It marks what could be the first of many complex and lengthy legal wrangles over the crucial waterway — and is yet another sign of how fraught water sharing is becoming on a hotter, drier planet.

On Friday, the Department of Interior released its operating guidelines, requiring water cuts of roughly 20% across the three so-called lower basin states over the next two years. Even deeper cuts could follow if the situation on the Colorado River doesn’t improve.

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Decades of severe climate-change fueled drought and years of heavy use have hammered the river which irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland, generates hydropower and provides water to roughly 40 million people. Both of its vast reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — have tumbled to record lows over the past few weeks.

The Trump administration plan came after years of negotiations between the seven states that rely on the Colorado River failed to achieve a deal on how to divvy up its shrinking resources. However, the plan imposes no mandatory cuts on the four upper basin states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming — which, unlike the lower basin, cannot be compelled to cut water by federal authorities. Many experts predicted litigation would follow.

Nevada is the first out of the blocks. The state, together with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada and Southern Nevada Water Authority, filed the claim in federal district court Monday.

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican, said “Southern Nevada could lose more than 70 percent of its already meager Colorado River allocation while the Upper Basin states … are not required to contribute a drop.”

“The Department of the Interior can’t roll Nevada and solve the entire Colorado River shortage on the backs of the Lower Basin states … the solution needs to involve everybody. Until that happens, we are prepared to fight for as long as it takes,” he added.

Nevada’s argument goes to the heart of a key sticking point in the tense water negotiations.

The upper basin states say drought has already reduced what they receive from the Colorado River and cuts should be borne by the more water-intensive lower basin. The lower basin states argue everyone should share the pain.

A plan “that shifts all of the burden onto less than half the states is fundamentally flawed,” said John Entsminger, the general manager of Southern Nevada Water Authority and Nevada’s lead Colorado River negotiator.

He said the effects of the cuts on the state would be severe. “You’re just not going to be able to provide the level of water service necessary to maintain those essential services that the community requires,” he told CNN.

Interior did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the lawsuit.

Nevada’s filing is “certainly not a bolt from the blue,” said Jason Robison, a law professor at the University of Wyoming, who added that other lower basin states and Tribal Nations may well also launch their own lawsuits.

Some experts had predicted Arizona, which will endure the steepest cuts, would be first to sue, but it has yet to make a move. Doug MacEachern, the communications administrator at Arizona Department of Water Resources said the organization was “evaluating Nevada’s complaint, and we are working on a proper course of action.”

Litigation is always risky, however. It is both costly and time-consuming, with the potential to span several years. Nevada’s claims “are certain to be fought over tooth and nail at every level of the federal judiciary,” Robison said.

One immediate question is whether the court might halt the planned cuts, said Rhett Larson, a water law professor at Arizona State University. He believes this is unlikely given the difficulty of coming up with another way to manage water shortages and the uncertainties it would produce.

“The greater likelihood is that this case proceeds, the court allows the federal government to move forward with the Operating Guidelines for the next two years, and the parties continue to try to find a durable consensus deal,” he said.

Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Entsminger said the aim is to bring all seven states and the federal government back to the table to come up with a plan “so that everyone sacrifices a little bit, so that no one state has to suffer catastrophic reductions.”

It could work, Larson said. The states are not currently communicating well and legal action might give them the structure to set out their positions better. It also “imposes some risks on the Upper Basin states, and those risks might be enough for them to make some concessions,” he said.

But whether the lawsuit ends up a catalyst or impediment to a consensus is “anybody’s guess,” he added.

In the meantime, the Colorado River’s reservoirs continue to spiral downward, with little hope of immediate relief on the horizon from punishing heat and drought.

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