Representative Greg Stanton (D-AZ) is unhappy with the Bureau of Reclamation's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Colorado River, expressing his dissatisfaction in a recent statement.
The Bureau's Statement
The new proposal issued by the Bureau would require the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California, and Nevada to make further cuts to their Colorado River water allowance, despite the three states having larger shares of population, industry, and agriculture.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Arizona have fought to ensure their state is treated fairly, having already worked hard to manage water drawn from sources other than the river.
Stanton's Response
"Solving the Colorado River crisis for the long term demands a fair, workable, basin-wide solution where every state has skin in the game," Rep. Stanton said in response to the Friday release. "What we got today is the opposite. Again and again, the federal government refuses to force the Upper Basin to put cuts on the table and entertains scenarios that would devastate Arizona. It is a total failure of leadership."
Rep. Stanton emphasized that "making Arizona shoulder the burden of a shrinking Colorado River ignores our decades of leadership in water conservation, and it ignores our economic and national security importance."
After all, with the Grand Canyon State becoming the semiconductor capital of America, water is a much-needed resource.
"As Mayor and now in Congress, I have worked to prepare Arizona to use less Colorado River water through strong investments in conservation and water recycling in urban and rural areas alike," the Arizona congressman continued, referring to his tenure as mayor of Phoenix.
As a result, Stanton vows to "work with state and federal negotiators to see the Lower Basin Proposal realized and restore some certainty before current guidelines expire."
"Arizona won't compromise its legal rights to water without all seven states fairly sacrificing to ensure the future of the Colorado River," he concluded.
