Candidates in several Colorado River Basin states are using water policy as a campaign issue before the midterm elections, although the outcome of the governor’s races is unlikely to produce major changes in how the river is managed.
In Nevada, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General Aaron Ford’s campaign has accused Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo of mishandling negotiations over the river’s future. In Arizona, Republican candidate Andy Biggs has said Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs cost the state millions of gallons of Colorado River water.
The Trump administration also accused Hobbs of “playing politics instead of working toward meaningful solutions” after Arizona filed a motion to join Nevada’s lawsuit against the federal government’s new management framework. The framework imposes water reductions on California, Arizona and Nevada. Nevada and Arizona are suing the Department of the Interior over the plan.
Six of the seven Colorado River Basin states are holding gubernatorial elections. Democratic candidates are strongly favored in California, Colorado and New Mexico, while Republicans lead in Wyoming. Nevada’s race between Ford and Lombardo is closely contested, and Hobbs holds a larger advantage over Biggs in Arizona, according to polls cited in the report.
The next governors will face a difficult dispute over the river, which has been strained by years of overuse and a severe, prolonged drought. Negotiations among the seven basin states over new operating rules have stalled, with the Upper and Lower basins divided over the scale of water cuts and how they should be distributed.
The Lower Basin has proposed accepting smaller reductions under certain drought conditions before sharing additional cuts with the Upper Basin. Upper Basin states, which have not used their full allocations, have resisted mandatory reductions, citing uncertainty about water supplies near the river’s headwaters. A broader lawsuit involving all seven states remains possible.
Experts say the basin’s political divisions do not neatly follow party lines. Gary Wockner, founder of Save the Colorado, described water politics as “surprisingly nonpartisan,” arguing that officials across the political spectrum seek to use as much water as legally possible.
Water is a major concern for voters in parts of the West, particularly Arizona. In some scenarios under the federal plan, Phoenix could lose its entire Colorado River supply, while a Center for the Future of Arizona poll found that 69 percent of voters lacked confidence that the state would have enough water over the long term.
The issue has received less attention in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming, which face no mandatory reductions under the federal framework. In those states, water has played a smaller role in the gubernatorial campaigns.
Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, said candidates may take different positions during campaigns but often adopt similar approaches once in office. She added that personal tensions among negotiators could affect the talks, meaning a change in leadership might create an opportunity for new working relationships even if state positions remain largely unchanged.
Celene Hawkins, Colorado River program director at The Nature Conservancy, said the basin’s newly elected leaders will need to reduce tensions and continue working toward a long-term agreement for managing the river in a hotter and drier future.
Sources: Inside Climate News.