Water Woes XXXVIII-High & Dry
- Mark L. Johnson
- May 14
- 2 min read
Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Local Drought Impact Group (LDIG) meeting today (5/14/25) via Zoom.
LDIG is a bi-monthly gathering of local and state water agencies to discuss latest drought conditions across the state of AZ. Attendees include: TA, Marana Water, Tucson Water, Metro Water, National Weather Service-Tucson, Central Arizona Project (CAP), Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), Pima County Office of Sustainability & Conservation (OSC) and more.
The following information was gleaned from the meeting.
Winter Weather Summary
Spring Weather Summary
Arizona Remains Red!
2025 Monsoon Season Prediction
In Southeast Arizona, 6 of the 15 wettest Monsoon Seasons occured after 10 of the driest Winter Seasons. Since this Winter Season was the second driest on record, NWS is predicting an above normal 2025 Monsoon Season.
Colorado River System Status
Snow Water Equivalent (in) in the upper Colorado River Watershed is 63% of normal.
The United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) is still projecting the Colorado System will be in Tier 1 Shortage for 2026 and very close to Tier 2a for 2027.
Post 2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies For Lake Powell And Lake Mead
There has been no progress on the negotiations. The Lower Basin States have offered to cover evaporative losses up to 1.5 million acre-feet per year (MAFY) with sharing between the Upper and Lower Basins states beyond that amount. However, the Upper Basin States are not willing to compromise and share in any cuts. This portends litigation by Arizona.
Dr. Andrea Travnicek (Director-North Dakota Department of Water Resurces under Governor Burgum) as been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of Water and Science which oversees USBR. She apparently has very good mediation skills and may be able to get the Lower and Upper Basin States and USBR to come to agreement.
TA still supports our CUT 20 proposal.