LAS VEGAS (AP) – With drought entering a second decade and reservoirs continuing to shrink, seven Southwestern U.S. states that depend on the overtaxed Colorado River for crop irrigation and drinking water had been expected to ink a crucial share-the-pain contingency plan by the end of 2018.
They’re not going to make it – at least not in time for upcoming meetings in Las Vegas involving representatives from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and the U.S. government, officials say.
Federal water managers wanted a deal to sign at the annual Colorado River Water Users Association conference beginning Wednesday in Las Vegas, and threatened earlier this year to impose unspecified measures from Washington if a voluntary drought contingency plan wasn’t reached.
After 19 years of drought and increasing demand, federal water managers project a 52 percent chance that the river’s biggest reservoir, Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam, will fall low enough to trigger cutbacks under agreements governing the system.
Lake Powell upstream from of the Grand Canyon is currently at 43 percent capacity; Lake Mead, downstream, is at 38 percent.
The Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada aim to keep Lake Mead above a shortage declaration trigger point by using less water than they’re legally entitled to.
If Lake Mead falls below that level, Arizona will face a 9 percent reduction in water supply, Nevada a 3 percent cut and California up to 8 percent.
Water officials in most states – from the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas to the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs, Colorado – have signed off on plans in recent weeks.
In Arizona, the board governing the Central Arizona Project irrigation system approved the Lower Basin plan on Thursday.
According to a board briefing, the Bureau of Reclamation, seven basin states and water contractors will begin negotiating again beginning no later than 2020.

Calling all local builders.
If this sounds like you, a small South Australian community wants to hear from you.
Ruby Phillips,8, Olivia O’Malley, 6, and Lucy Phillips,6, on the proposed site with local mums and children.
PIC: TAIT SCHMAAL.Source:News Limited “We’re looking to convert a car park into a community hub and childcare centre for around $500,000 in just over six months, so we want to hear from businesses who can deliver this project and guarantee it will be up and running by June 30 next year,” he said.
“This town has a huge challenge ahead, but it’s an exciting challenge to have and we’re entirely confident we can achieve it.” The new facility – to be centrally located on Peake St in Karoonda – could include a community meeting space, multi-use rooms for youth activities, and a dedicated childcare section catering for up to 12 children.
Mr Morgan said the facility would tick multiple boxes in council’s long-term strategic plan and would also provide a place for the community to “come together and connect” at a time when drought was affecting many local families.
PIC: TAIT SCHMAAL.Source:News Limited “It would include child care and outside hours school-care are services that our community needs to enable stay-at-home parents to seek employment opportunities or to expand their businesses,” he said.
“A hub like this will create jobs in the short-term as well as enable people to seek more opportunities for income and business growth in the mid to long-term.” Mr Morgan said council was open to creative concepts, including modular construction, to ensure the facility was delivered by the June 30 deadline.
Housing Trust home given new lease on life after unlikely renovation Property for free … but there’s a catch Car collector’s beachside home a “wheely” good buy “We know there are companies out there who will be able to bring some innovative and cost-effective solutions to the table and we’d like to hear from them,” he said.
“We expect the company will work with local contractors and builders where possible to maximise opportunities to local businesses during construction.” Mr Morgan said keen contractors should contact him on 0417 819 192 to register their interest, or download the information brief from the Karoonda East Murray Council website at dckem.sa.gov.au/page.aspx.

"Rainfall’s usually 400-450mm, it’s 180mm this year," he said.
"We don’t have enough feed for our sheep.
"In the past 20 years, there was a tiny bit of farmers getting $10,000 to $20,000 (assistance packages) but nothing specific.
But for farmers like Mr Griffiths, going through the process of proving his income and assets, as well as the time taken to call the hotline, remains troublesome.
A spokesman at the Federal Department of Agriculture said the payment was a point-in-time system that didn’t take into account the previous year’s income.
"Farmers should not self-assess their eligibility for FHA, with the free Rural Financial Counselling Service able to assist farmers in applying."
"State governments need to work more with farming organisations to indicate what’s available.
"The staff provide producer groups with cropping, pasture and livestock technical information to assist producers with decision making in tough times," she said.
One farming family in Jerramungup has already reached out.
Mr Griffiths has indicated interest in attending the workshop too.

King called the Rio Grande a harbinger of what’s to come.
The federal government projects that temperatures could rise an additional 8 degrees Fahrenheit in the region by 2100.
The reservoir there sits right on the Rio Grande and forms the largest recreational lake in the state.
It is something that El Paso is used to.
Instead of relying solely on pumped groundwater, Archuleta expanded El Paso’s water portfolio.
Farmers in the Western United States typically organized a system of rights or allotments to use water off of the river, including the Rio Grande.
Next year, El Paso expects desalination to provide 7% to 9% of its water.
Drinking treated sewage Today, El Paso is ready to take the next step in expanding its water portfolio.
Trejo says it can take about five years for the water to filter through the ground before being pumped back out and treated to the standards of clean drinking water.
Water really is all around us in every city.”

Farmers expressed their difficulties following the failure of monsoon, and alarming dip in the groundwater table.
Fodder supply At Tarigonda, dairy farmers sought setting up of cattle farms at the village level in view of fodder crisis.
They asked the animal husbandry officials to extend the facility not only to cows, but also to sheep.
In Kadapa district Another central drought team led by senior official Rajiv Singhal visited parts of Kadapa district.
After photo exhibition on the ground situation, District Collector Ch.
Pouring out their woes, a group of farmers at Kaligiri said it was the fourth successive year of drought.
They could not take up cultivation of even tobacco, they said.
Making a power-point presentation, Chief Planning Officer P.B.K.
As many as 1.62 lakh farmers had to be provided an input subsidy of ₹138.92 crore, while cattle farmers had to be provided ₹44.90 crore for arranging fodder and drinking water for animals to prevent a fall in the levels of milk production, the main source of income when crops failed, Prakasam Joint Collector S. Nagalakshmi explained to the team members.
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After Thursday’s deal, developers seemed to be on board as well.
The proposal was "a very creative endeavor," Suzanne Ticknor, a senior attorney for the Central Arizona Project, said in summarizing it for the board during its monthly meeting on Thursday.
After several hours of discussion on the drought proposal, the board voted unanimously on a motion to support the key provisions of the November 29 plan, while "recognizing the need for additional discussions to address remaining issues."
The board put forward a bare-bones proposal during a special meeting in mid-November and authorized $60 million in funding to go toward a Drought Contingency Plan.
That deal, the final passage of which is contingent upon the signing of a Drought Contingency Plan, helped alleviate some of developers’ concerns about access to water for future economic development, should a shortage be declared.
"We now have a confirmed source of water to meet the needs of the development community for the next 25 years," Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community said during Thursday’s meeting.
"I am now authorized to sign the CAGRD deal as soon as the Arizona Legislature approves Governor Ducey’s DCP program."
Like Buschatzke, Lewis hinted at the fragility of this proposal as stakeholders continue to sort out details.
"This plan is a very delicate compromise," – Governor Stephen Roe Lewis, Gila River Indian Community He said he had "concerns" about another major component of the proposal, which was that, in lieu of using Colorado River water, agricultural districts would develop infrastructure to access groundwater.
Buschatzke, the ADWR director, who has the legal authority to sign the drought contingency plan, responded vaguely, if positively.

Arizona water officials came to an agreement on a plan that deals with water shortages as the Colorado River water supply continues to decline.
The Drought Contingency Plan had already been signed off on by Nevada and California, but had stalled in Arizona as officials struggled to deal with how to take the most cutbacks should Lake Mead hit shortage levels.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has said a shortage is all but inevitable and could hit as soon as next year.
Arizona’s plan lays out $100 million – including $30 million in state tax revenue – that would pay to have water previously stored underground pumped out to meet some of the needs of farmers and others who would otherwise find themselves going without.
It also involves paying some cash to tribes and others to buy water rights.
The Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources says the plan primarily deals with finding ways to leave more water in Lake Mead.
The plan still requires approval by lawmakers.

KT/Mai Vireak Kors Kralor district, Battambang province – Thousands of hectares of rice fields in 12 districts here have been sucked dry as drought continues to afflict farmers, with those living in Kors Kralor district hit the hardest.
“My rice paddies were destroyed because we did not have enough water for farming,” Mr Sin said, adding that he had borrowed $50,000 from a bank to get his farm running.
“We asked provincial authorities and the government to help dig a system for our villagers in this area because we can’t farm without a canal,” Mr Sin said.
“In Battambang province, Banan and Kors Kralor districts are facing a lack of water for farming,” he said.
Mr Voek noted that Kors Kralor district has been hit the hardest.
“The hardest hit paddies are located in Kors Kralor district.” “The drought affected 13,434 hectares of rice paddies in the district alone – 12,358 hectares were destroyed by drought,” he noted.
“We can estimate that farmers lost $500 per hectare destroyed.” Mr Voek said provincial officials surveyed the sites in order to find a solution for the farmers, but noted that the closest source of water is located in Pursat province.
“We have been looking for a water source to help them, but the source of water is very far from the areas affected,” he said.
He said authorities are attempting to use a system that can pump water from the water source in Pursat province.
“Some rice could take three months to harvest, while others take six months.” “If people continue to not have water, we will bring the water to them,” he added.

Changing climatic conditions pose extra challenges for hydropower plant operators.
This allows reliable predictions of water scarcity over a period of up to three weeks.
Massimiliano Zappa of WSL, who heads the project, explains the advantage of such forecasts: "With climate change, dry spells will become more frequent and intensive, and will last longer."
This information is particularly useful for operators of reservoir power stations.
"But up to now, forecasts have generally not been made over such long periods because of the high complexity and enormous amounts of data," says Zappa.
Drought is easier to predict than precipitation, which can only be reliably forecasted up to five days at most.
Previously, Switzerland had no system capable of monitoring these local variables efficiently.
Making optimal use of available water Long-range forecasts of inflow and outflow in the catchment areas of hydropower stations can be combined with predictions of price developments on the energy market to optimise operation and profitability.
This is very important for the hydropower industry, which has come under pressure," says Frédéric Jordan, CEO of Hydrique Ingéniers, the industrial partner responsible for the economic calculations.
It is in society’s interest that hydropower plants be able to predict the availability of water and convert the stored water into electricity when market demand is high.

The Central Arizona Project holds its monthly board meeting at its headquarters in north Phoenix, beginning at 8:30 a.m. “The board of CAP is still concerned about the issue of signature,” Terry Goddard, a board member, said on Wednesday.
The Central Arizona Project operates a 336-mile canal that transports water from the Colorado River to Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal Counties, and it has an elected, 15-member board representing those central Arizona counties.
“We still need to have our place at the table,” Goddard said.
The board is authorized to levy one property tax on the three counties of up to 10 cents per $100 of assessed value, and another property tax of up to 4 cents per $100.
In the most recent public clash over this issue, in mid-November, the Department of Water Resources argued that only the department has the legal authority to represent the entire state of Arizona.
“The state’s authority is not up for sale,” Nicole Klobas, an attorney with the Arizona Department of Water Resources At the latest DCP Steering Committee meeting, which took place on November 29, board member Karen Cesare presented a “Friendly Amendment” that drew criticism from State Senator Lisa Otondo and ADWR Director and Steering Committee co-chair Tom Buschatzke.
Both of them penned letters to DCP Steering Committee members on Monday, pointedly criticizing an offer by the Central Arizona Project in the amendment to pay for water from the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
Then, last Friday — three days before Otondo and Buschatzke sent their letters — Margaret Vick, special counsel for water resources to the Colorado River Indian Tribes, wrote an email to Ted Cooke, general manager of the Central Arizona Project and co-chair of the Steering Committee.
Since the Friendly Amendment was presented the day before, she wrote, some stakeholders were “concerned” that the Colorado River Indian Tribes’ water would not remain in Lake Mead.
The following day, after Otondo’s and Buschatzke’s letters had been made public, Cooke wrote an email to Buschatzke, copying the entire CAP board and steering committee.