The U.S. Department of the Interior, Arizona, California and Nevada have reached a deal to address ongoing drought conditions along the Colorado River Basin.
John Fleck, University of New Mexico's water policy expert, said the deal is a "step in the right direction," despite not having all of the agreement details yet, according to a May 22 KOAT report.
"This is a really important agreement because the biggest water users on the Colorado River, especially California, but also Arizona, have agreed to further cut their use of water," Fleck said in the KOAT report. "This agreement has the potential to benefit all of the states that depend on the Colorado River, including those of us here in New Mexico who depend on Colorado River water for our drinking water."
Fleck noted they are still unsure how the agreement will affect Tribal communities, KOAT reported.
"The Tribes have legal entitlements to a bunch of water they don't have a chance to use yet," Fleck added, according to KOAT. "I think we have a moral obligation to the Tribes. We muscled into their land. We took away their land, water and efforts to give some of that water back to the Tribes that they're entitled to.
He added it was difficult since Arizona and California were "unwilling to cut back their use enough," according to KOAT. He added, this new agreement has the potential to move in the right direction, but it is hard to know how Tribes will benefit.
KOAT reported it remains unknown if the new agreement will be enough to reduce the demands on the Colorado, and only time will tell.
"We get our water here in Albuquerque from the Colorado River through the San Juan Chama Project," Fleck said to KOAT. "It's really important to us here in Albuquerque that the other people using water on the Colorado River cut back far enough to save the river system from collapsing."