Severe sustained drought revisited managing the Colorado River system in times of water shortage 25 years later—Part II

American Water Resources Association (AWRA) | December 4th, 2022

Sharing Groundwater: A Robust Framework and Implementation Roadmap for Sustainable Groundwater Management in California

Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability (Duke University) | January 1st, 2017

This working paper offers a framework and roadmap for development of a robust groundwater-sharing system consistent with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management

This working paper offers a framework and roadmap for development of a robust groundwater-sharing system consistent with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires communities in priority areas to prepare groundwater sustainability plans. The proposed system draws on global experience. Robustness is its signature feature. Opportunities are maximized by a suite of robust local governance, allocation, and administrative arrangements. Additionally, the proposed system incentivizes innovation, stimulates investment, and facilitates low-cost adjustment to changes in groundwater demand. Among the dynamic components underlying this sharing system are a share register that records ownership and transfers of ownership in the basin’s available shares. These unit shares are fungible; each represents a proportional stake in access to the basin’s groundwater resources. Volumetric allocations are made in proportion to the number of shares held during determined periods throughout the water year. These allocations are recorded in bank-like water accounts, affording account holders an efficient means to manage their resource but also ensuring that they cannot use more than is available. Unused water can be saved for later use. At the start of the transition to the new system, users are given an allocation buffer so that they have flexibility and time to adjust. Those who want to can make quick non-contestable trades at low cost.

Southern Nevada Water Authority 2026 Water Resource Plan

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) | July 22nd, 2026

State of Arizona Motion to Intervene, State of Nevada v. Burgum

Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) | October 16th, 2026

Recently, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation issued three agency actions that will govern the agencies’ release of water from federal dams and

Recently, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation issued three agency actions that will govern the agencies’ release of water from federal dams and reservoirs for the next decade.  If upheld, these actions would significantly reduce the supply of water available to the three States of the Lower Basin—Arizona, California, and Nevada—in violation of the 1922 Compact and related laws. Nevada brought this Administrative Procedure Act suit to challenge those agency actions and to protect its rights under the federal laws governing the Colorado River. Those same challenged actions affect Arizona at least as much as Nevada. Acting through the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, see Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 45-105(A)(9), Arizona therefore moves to intervene and participate in the resolution of these critical issues.

State of Nevada v. Burgum

U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada | August 24th, 2026

Nevada and the other Lower Basin States submitted an alternative to the proposed action for inclusion in the NEPA analysis that Plaintiffs maintain fully complies with th

Nevada and the other Lower Basin States submitted an alternative to the proposed action for inclusion in the NEPA analysis that Plaintiffs maintain fully complies with the Law of the River and better satisfies the purpose and need of the proposed action than the preferred alternative in the Final EIS. Federal Defendants failed to consider and carry forward the Lower Basin States’ alternative. Instead, the Final EIS and ROD authorize the Secretary of the Interior to impose on Nevada an annual reduction of 213,556 acre-feet at a 3.6 maf shortage, which constitutes approximately 71% of Nevada’s Colorado River entitlement. Furthermore, the federal defendants failed to analyze critical components of the Law of the River that would lessen the shortage burden of the entire Lower Basin. The magnitude of such shortages will cause acute environmental, socioeconomic, and health and human safety impacts to southern Nevada. Federal Defendants failed to consider such impacts in any meaningful way in the Final EIS.

State Water Project , Historical Table A Allocations, Water Years 1996-2024

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | November 30th, 2023

State Water Project Allocations, Historical Table A, Water Years 1996-2022

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 30th, 2022

State Water Project Allocations, Historical Table A, Water Years 1996-2023

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 1st, 2022

State Water Project and Central Valley Project Drought Contingency Plan May 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | May 28th, 2021

This Drought Contingency Plan (Drought Plan) is prepared by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) in an effo

This Drought Contingency Plan (Drought Plan) is prepared by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) in an effort to provide updated information about areas of potential concern given the current dry hydrology of 2021. DWR and Reclamation operate the State Water Project (SWP) and the Central Valley Project (CVP), respectively, to the 2020 Record of Decision (ROD) as analyzed in the 2019 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Biological Opinion and 2019 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Biological Opinion on the Coordinated Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project (Collectively the 2019 Biological Opinions), and DWR also operates the SWP to the 2020 California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Incidental Take Permit (ITP). This updated Drought Plan will be submitted by DWR to CDFW in response to Condition 8.21 of CDFW’s ITP. Concurrently, this plan will be shared with the Water Operations Management Team (WOMT) which includes representatives from DWR, Reclamation, USFWS, NMFS, CDFW, and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) (collectively referred to as Agencies). This report was first drafted in February and subsequently updated in March, April, and May 2021.

State Water Project Historical Table A Allocations, Water Years 1996-2024

California Department of Water Resources (DWR)ia | June 5th, 2024