Metropolitan Water District General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh issues the following statement regarding the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s release today of Colorado River 2027-2028 Operating Guidelines, the Record of Decision for the Post-2026 Colorado River Operations Final EIS and the August 24-month study.

“The guidelines and Record of Decision released today, which call for 3.2 million acre-feet in contributions from the Lower Basin through 2028, are necessary to help the Colorado River Basin manage through the immediate challenges we’re facing after record-low snowpack. But they are only a first step toward a short-term solution. Critical work remains to prevent our shared reservoirs from reaching levels that would jeopardize the water and power supplies of millions of people, in the immediate future and long term.

“First, in the coming months, California agricultural and urban water users must work to develop agreements on how reductions will be shared within the state. Then, water users across the basin must make a renewed effort to forge a longer-term agreement that produces additional reductions, including through participation of all seven Basin states. Renegotiating these issues every year means we could be one dry year away from crisis and one legal battle away from system failure.

“Metropolitan is prepared to do our part to support California’s share of shortages. For more than two decades, we have invested in storage, conservation, recycled water and groundwater recovery, allowing Southern California to cut its use of imported water in half, from 2.5 million acre-feet a year to about 1.2 million acre-feet. Thanks to these investments – along with smart planning and the collective effort of Southern Californians to use water efficiently – we have managed previous cuts. And we are prepared to make additional reductions, with our agricultural partners in California, just as water users across the Basin must do their part to improve the sustainability of the river that we all rely on.

“The guidelines released today can be a start. In addition to the Lower Basin contributions, they include provisions for water users like Metropolitan to store water in Lake Mead as Intentionally Created Surplus, a tool that makes reductions in use more manageable. They also create a pathway for interstate exchanges, allowing water users to build cross-state partnerships and pool funding to develop new large-scale water supply projects, like Metropolitan’s Pure Water Southern California. Tools like these improve the sustainability of the Colorado River system by increasing operational flexibility and minimizing the pain of cuts. Through creative problem solving, shared sacrifice and a renewed commitment to collaboration, a long-term agreement is possible. That remains our goal, and the best way to avoid a crisis.”

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