Reclamation Commissioner Starts Federal Process For DCP
On Friday the federal Bureau of Reclamation said the Drought Contingency Plan is still not done and therefore will start a second process for developing a plan to cut back on Colorado River water.
Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman praised Arizona for the laws it passed on Thursday. But she also said “close isn’t done.”
“Yesterday’s legislation authorizing the state of Arizona to proceed was a big deal. But we still need all of the participating stakeholders to approve and execute the DCP agreements,” she said.
On Thursday, the agency that runs the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD) listed 15 such agreements that are in draft or concept form. Work on those final documents continues.
Some California agencies are also not finished and have yet to approve the DCP.
The Drought Contingency Plan is designed to cut water deliveries in order to keep Lake Mead from disastrously low levels. The lake is currently about 40 percent full and the Bureau of Reclamation is predicting it will be deemed “in shortage” for 2020. That declaration triggers delivery cutbacks under the DCP and an earlier agreement from 2007. Arizona faces most of the cutbacks, due to its lower priority status for Colorado River water.
Because her Jan. 31 deadline has passed, Burman is now filing a notice with the Federal Register. It will ask state governors in the Colorado River basin to submit recommendations on what the Secretary of the Interior should do to cope with ongoing drought in the basin.
Burman said the Secretary has “broad authority” over the Colorado River, although she wouldn’t specify what precisely that means.
The Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Tom Buschatzke, said in a DCP Steering Committee meeting on Jan. 8 that he did not want the states to have to provide comments to the Secretary.
“I think there’s a great possibility that it will result in some real potential divisiveness between the states,” he said at the time, predicting states would mostly suggest cuts for others. “I am really hoping we can avoid that outcome. It’s not going to be a good one.”
Burman said she prefers consensus, which she still considers possible. “If all seven states are able to complete the Drought Contingency Plans before March 4th we will rescind and terminate that request,” she said.
Potentially complicating matters is the fact that Acting Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt was formerly a lobbyist at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. That firm is currently the federal lobbyist for the CAWCD, the agency that runs the 336-mile Central Arizona Project canal system. The CAP brings Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson and is a major stakeholder in DCP negotiations.
Bernhardt was part of the firm’s initial proposal to the CAWCD in March 2017, but was nominated as Deputy Interior Secretary before the firm interviewed with CAWCD in May 2017. According to CAWCD, a different staff member was added to the proposal at that time. The contract began on May 25, 2017, according to documents obtained in a public records request.
The CAWCD said in a statement “Mr. Bernhardt never provided lobbying services to CAWCD.” The agency also said it has not had conversations with him or requested any meetings with Bernhardt during his time as deputy secretary or acting secretary.
It was not clear whether Bernhardt would recuse himself from any DCP decisions should they come across his desk. The Department of Interior did not answer a media inquiry, sent through a Reclamation spokesperson.
Bernhardt has been Acting Secretary since Ryan Zinke left in early January. According to media reports, he is in the running to be nominated to the post by President Trump.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect CAWCD's statement that it hasn't asked for any meetings with or had conversations with Bernhardt during his time as acting secretary.
