I am sure you all recall that Senator Manchin was a key factor in getting the Inflation Reduction Act (sic) approved by Congress.  What you may not recall is that there was another significant actor in that 50 (or 51, when Vice President Kamala Harris is included) votes needed for the reconciliation to be approved.

That was Senator Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona Democrat.  It was with her insistence that the carried interest provision was stripped from the bill.

But, she also demanded the inclusion of a $ 4 billion (after failing to get the $ 5 billion she wanted included) appropriation to deal with the Colorado River crisis, affecting our 7 Western States.  The River Basin has been experiencing  23 year of shortages (that won’t be going away soon).  Lake Mead and Lake Powell are the two major reservoirs for the basin- and their levels are about ¼ full!

Since this river basin provision affected more than just her state, the other Democrats were willing to add the provision to the Inflation Reduction Act (sic).  (This also pleased other challenged Democratic Senators- in particular, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, and (much less threatened) Michael Bennet of Colorado.)

(It should be noted that Senator Adam Laxalt [ex-Attorney General of Nevada], who is well-funded by the petrochemical industry  lobby, has been against the river basin fixes.  He, like the petrochemical complex [although they have finally begun backing off]  has denied the problems are related to climate change. Anything to deny science!)

And, despite the fact that this provision was included in the tax bill, the 7 states have failed to agree on water conservation provisions. As such, the Bureau of Reclamation has announced a reduction in water use by 2 million (650 billion gallons) to 4 million acre feet (1.35 trillion gallons).  (These sums equal 15 to 30% of the total diversions.)  This means that Arizona’s provision will be cut by 21%, Nevada will find itself with 8% fewer resources, and Mexico will get 7% less than previous allocations.  California, Arizona, and Nevada use about ¾ of the River Basin’s allocations for agricultural purposes.

(Maybe now is the time to remind folks how much water is used by almond growers.  It takes about 1900 gallons of water to grow 1 pound of almonds! Producing almonds means that more water is used than is needed to supply every living soul in the areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco- combined.)

It is hoped that this $ 4 billion appropriation will alleviate the pressures on the water basin.  Much of the money is going to pay farmers to have them cut their agricultural water demands, along with other provisions for folks to conserve water.

In addition, there are conservation and environmental restoration projects (dust control, Salton Sea habitat restoration [fed by the Colorado], as well as funding for Native American tribes to adapt to climate change and produce water infrastructure improvements.  Those first two items- dust control and Salton Sea restorations- are crucial to the Imperial Irrigation District (IID, an area of some 500,000 acres of the Imperial River Valley in California) which receives the largest water allocation from the Colorado River.  The IID provides most of the USA’s winter vegetables, as well as hay for cattle (among other crops).

The IID and Yuma Arizona farmers are projected to forgo 1 acre foot of water for each acre of farmland, which would save some 925,000 acre feet of water (about 300 billion gallons of water).

The allocations will be divided and spent with the agreement of the Bureau of Reclamation, the 7 states, Native American Tribes, and public entities.

It should be noted, however, that this $ 4 billion will NOT solve the problems of the Colorado River Basin.  At best, it will alleviate the criticalities that will obtain for the next three or four years.

Yes, America also has a water shortage crisis.