Follow-Up: Central Arizona Project Moves to Intervene in Colorado River Lawsuit, Warning Federal Plan Could Take Its Water to Zero
The Central Arizona Project (CAP) on October 27 filed a motion in federal court in Nevada to intervene in Nevada's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior over Colorado River water cuts. CAP General Manager Brenda Burman told a news conference that day that the parties who rely on the river have no choice but to turn to the courts, adding that CAP's goal had been to avoid court, but not at the expense of defending its rights, the Arizona Republic reported.
The lawsuit was filed in late August by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Colorado River Commission of Nevada and the state of Nevada, challenging the Bureau of Reclamation's new river management framework, which requires the Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and California to cut a combined 1.25 million acre-feet of withdrawals over two years. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and the state Department of Water Resources moved to join the suit on October 16, as GSM previously reported.
CAP delivers Colorado River water through a 336-mile canal system to the Phoenix and Tucson areas, serving more than 50 municipal and industrial users and 11 tribes, and supplying at least some water to 80 percent of the state's residents and 90 percent of its economy. "The United States has given itself the ability in its framework documents to take the CAP system and all of our water users, over 50 municipal and industrial users, 11 tribes, to zero," Burman said. "That is devastating to central and southern Arizona and the entire state." She said the federal plan "fails to adequately assess the devastation, the economic harm, the harm to everyday communities, the harm to the canal itself."
CAP holds a relatively junior, fourth-priority water right. In the worst case, the federal plan could take up to 3 million acre-feet a year from the Lower Basin states, and CAP officials argue the canal could go completely dry. The board of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, which operates CAP, voted unanimously in September to authorize legal action against the federal government.
Source: GSM News
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：中央亚利桑那项目（CAP）运河航拍（资料图）。图片：美国垦务局，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Aerial view of the Central Arizona Project canal (file photo). Photo: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-10-27Follow-Up: Central Arizona Project Moves to Intervene in Colorado River Lawsuit, Warning Federal Plan Could Take Its Water to ZeroThis story
