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Department of Interior to host press conference on Colorado River drought

Posted at 7:09 AM, Aug 16, 2022
and last updated 2022-08-16 23:45:21-04

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Department of Interior will address the drought conditions impacting the Colorado River in a virtual press conference Tuesday morning.

The agency is expected to outline a long-term plan that could impact Nevada and the other states that source their water from the river.

The Colorado River system supplies water and hydropower to millions of people in the west. It’s the lifeblood of seven states, including Nevada, as well as dozens of native tribes.

The federal government recently demanded that the seven Colorado River states meet to negotiate and drop usage by 15 to 30%.

John Enstminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, says negotiations between those states is deadlocked.

Enstminger says the bulk of the water is being used by states downstream of the Hoover Dam. He says he hasn’t seen any realistic proposals from them so far, so he wrote a strongly worded letter to the Department of Interior to warn them about the lack of action.

“We’ve done the hard things, we’ve made the investments, our community is safe and secure, and we have the tools to continue to control our demands and the physical ability to guarantee the water supply even when folks downstream don’t have access to the Colorado River. The reason I took the tone I did is because I simply don’t think most folks on the river ae taking this situation seriously enough,” Enstminger added.

Esntiminger says he hopes the federal government will give specifics on exactly what they’re going to do in the absence of an agreement among the states. Maybe that will provide some more motivation at the negotiating table.

The virtual press conference will start at 10 a.m. 13 Action News will be there and bring you the latest.