Yuma braces for possible Colorado River water cuts amid renegotiations

YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — Arizona is facing the real possibility of deep cuts to its share of Colorado River water, and cities across the state are bracing for what could come next. But few communities are as directly dependent on the river as Yuma.

The Colorado River runs along Yuma’s western boundary, a constant presence for generations. Now, as the West grapples with long-term drought and negotiators work toward a new set of rules for the river, residents and city leaders say the stakes for Yuma couldn’t be higher.

“Keep it flowing so we have access to it...not shipping everywhere,” Dana Jones said.

Out on the street, some residents said they’re worried their community could lose ground in the high-stakes negotiations over who gets how much water.

“We should be first, not everyone else that it doesn’t flow through their state or next to their city. You know, where water flows, food grows,” said Jones.

Last week, the Yuma City Council sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a federal agency that oversees key Colorado River infrastructure and could ultimately make decisions if Arizona and the other basin states can’t reach an agreement.

Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said the discussions have been underway for years. Still, they’re taking on new urgency as existing guidelines that govern how water is shared among the seven Colorado River basin states near expiration.

“For quite a while now, we have been in water discussions because the rules that govern the distribution of water along the Colorado River to the seven states that pull water from it are expiring,” Nicholls said.

Nicholls says that any changes could have an outsized effect on Yuma, because the city relies on the Colorado River for all of its drinking water. The region also depends on the river to support agriculture, a major part of Yuma County’s economy.

At the center of the city’s concerns is Yuma’s current “priority” status as a river user, a long-standing system that, in certain situations, puts some users ahead of others when supplies are limited.

Nicholls said he’s concerned that larger communities could push to change that structure.

“A lot of the areas want to abandon the first-priority system. They think they are the bigger community, they are the bigger voters, that they should take priority over a community that has been using the Colorado River water for over one hundred years,” he said.

For now, nothing is changing immediately. But Nicholls and other leaders say the next set of rules, and any potential shift in Yuma’s share of the Colorado or its priority status, could come later this year.

Most experts agree on one point: change is coming.

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