The Colorado River is approximately 2,333 kilometers long and the fifth longest in North America. It falls from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, in northern Mexico, and a historic 24-year drought has reduced its flow, with consequences for thousands of families in cities such as Denver, Phoenix and Quo.
The river has been reduced to a third level and the levels of the two main lakes, Powell and Mead, have suffered significant losses. All this has led to the intervention of the federal government, since the situation is more due to the increase in temperatures in recent years.
That is why the states of California, Nevada and Arizona are working on a proposal to recover the areas affected by the lack of water, for which they jointly promoted an initiative in which they want to voluntarily plan to preserve 3,700 million cubic meters. until 2016 water.
In addition, the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico have shown their support for an agreement to protect the river, the United States Government announced on Monday.
“There are 40 million people, seven states and 30 tribal nations that depend on the Colorado River Basin for basic services like drinking water and electricity,” US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a statement praising this agreement that ends decades of controversy.
This agreement would mean a reduction of around 10% of the allocation of river water to the states, which would constitute a reduction of millions of liters of water in the coming years. Part of these savings will be “obligated funds from the Inflation Reduction Act,” the major climate law passed in Washington last year, he said.
On the other hand, the leader of California, Gavin Newson celebrated the agreement and confirmed that “all the States of Western America are united against climate change” and underlined the joint work to “this crisis and extreme weather between droughts and floods”. “.
In turn, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, mentioned that this treaty is an important step to “build a sustainable and resilient future for the states, tribes and communities of the West”. The agreement is expected to come into effect this year.
