PHOENIX – Governor Doug Ducey today announced the appointment of longtime water rights attorney and Gila River Indian Community member Rodney B. Lewis to the 15-member Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board of Directors. Lewis, the first member of an Arizona Indian Tribe to gain admission to the Arizona State Bar, will fill the open Maricopa County seat created by the resignation of Guy Carpenter.

“Given Rod’s long and respectable experience in water law, I am pleased that a person of his caliber is available to fill this important position on the CAWCD board,” said Governor Ducey. “At a time when Arizona and its Colorado River system partners are working hard to find solutions to the complex issues facing us, it is good to have CAWCD board member of Rod’s experience working with us.”

Lewis’s board term will expire in 2018.

“The chance to serve on the CAWCD board is, for me, the culmination of a career-long interest and passion for effectively managing Arizona’s crucial water supply and the water rights of Indian Tribes across the state and the Southwest,” said Lewis. “I want to be an advocate for Tribes and for every Arizona resident, making sure the Central Arizona Project manages our water and tax dollars with a focus on true stewardship. I hope my 40 years’ experience and my tribal perspective bring a helpful vision to the CAWCD Board.”

After graduating from UCLA Law School, Lewis served as the General Counsel for the Gila River Indian Community beginning in 1978. Since the mid-1980s, Lewis has led the Community’s negotiations with the federal government, the State of Arizona, and over 30 non-Indian parties for settlement of the Community’s water rights and claims. As a result of these negotiations, the Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004 was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 10, 2004.

In 1980, Lewis became the first member of an Indian Tribe to win a case before the United States Supreme Court, successfully arguing Central Machinery  v. Arizona State Tax Commission. In 2010, Lewis was honored by the Crow Tribe of Montana for his contributions and dedication leading to the Crow Nation Water Settlement of 2010.

Lewis also worked as a principal representing the Pechanga Tribe of California. The Pechanga Water Settlement was approved by Congress and signed by President Obama enacted into law in 2016.

Lewis was inducted into the Maricopa County Bar’s Hall of Fame in 2009.

Agreement to work together on groundwater storage, water conservation efforts will help Lake Mead water level, drought relief strategies statewide

SACATON, AZ. – To continue drought relief efforts to address falling elevation in Lake Mead, the Gila River Indian Community, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the City of Phoenix and the Walton Family Foundation today announced the signing of a cooperative agreement to continue efforts to conserve water that will serve as a foundation to secure water supplies for Arizona’s more than 6 million residents and businesses.

“This agreement is an important step to continue cooperative efforts to help slow the falling elevations at Lake Mead,” said Gila River Governor Stephen R. Lewis.  “Having the largest entitlement of Colorado River water delivered through the CAP system, the Community recognizes that it can make its supply available in times of need, and we consider this agreement a continuation of our commitments made to United States in January that will allow Arizona parties to continue their negotiations and efforts to conclude a comprehensive plan, commonly called the Drought Contingency Plan Plus or DCP Plus, to address the severe drought on the Colorado River.”

“Solving our most difficult long-term water challenges like the over-allocation of Colorado River water will require innovation and collaboration,” said Mayor Greg Stanton. “Today we are embarking on a creative new way for the Gila River Indian Community, Phoenix, and others to help build drought resiliency together to protect the Colorado and Lake Mead for the long run.”

Thomas Buschatzke, Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) stated, “This agreement will allow for the creation of tools that will be effective in protecting Lake Mead.   Those tools will be enduring and inclusive, allowing for participation by a broad group of Arizona water entitlement holders and other constituencies.”

The agreement establishes a long-term partnership between tribal, federal, state and local leaders and a philanthropic foundation with a lengthy, laudable history of supporting binational and multi-state water agreements in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River. The Foundation has worked diligently to protect the viability of Lake Mead and the overall health of the Colorado River system.

“Our goal is the long-term sustainability of the Colorado River Basin, and solutions will take cooperation, collaboration, and creativity,” said Ted Kowalski, who leads the Colorado River initiative for the Walton Family Foundation. “We are proud to partner with these forward-thinking federal, state, tribal and local interests. We welcome additional partners interested in supporting the long-term health of the Colorado River and the farmers, ranchers and communities who depend on it.”

One way the Community is making CAP water supplies available for conservation is to expand its groundwater capacity by developing underground storage facilities.  Representatives from the State of Arizona, City of Phoenix and the Walton Family Foundation toured the Community’s Olberg Dam Underground Storage Facility (ODUSF), a riparian aquifer recharge project that restores portions of the Gila River on the Community’s reservation and recharges the Community’s aquifer.  Located on the Gila River near Sacaton, AZ the ODUSF has restored approximately three miles of Gila River riparian ecosystem on the Reservation.

“The Community plans to develop a number of these storage facilities that both bring back the Gila River and ensures that as the Community relies more on groundwater, this water is replenished and we can maintain a healthy aquifer,” said Governor Lewis.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources has been instrumental in helping the Community develop the ODUSF.  “Having worked with ADWR for the last two years on a pilot program at the Olberg Dam Underground Storage Facility site, the Community has done its due diligence and demonstrated that they can successfully recharge CAP water at this site,” said Mr. Buschatzke.  “This pilot program has provided valuable information as the Community develops a permanent recharge program here and pursues recharge at other sites.”

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A tour courtesy of Salt River Project of the Salt and Verde watersheds

Strictly in terms of aesthetics, it is the perfect time to skim several hundred feet over Arizona’s oldest water-delivery system — the two series of dams and reservoirs operated by the Salt River Project that provide the Valley with its largest supply of in-state surface water.

The air – sparkling and clear between February storms — is satisfyingly crisp. The landscapes are verdant from the abundance of moisture unleashed this winter on Arizona’s mountainsides. It’s poised for a magnificent bloom of spring wildflowers that now is just a week or three away.

Mormon Flat Dam

Eagle pairs are nesting. Wild horses are frolicking in the Salt River. And water is flowing in nearly every wash and cascading down nearly every mountainside.

After years of epic drought and disappointingly dry “El Nino” weather patterns, it is an invigorating moment to be strapped into a Salt River Project helicopter on a mission to examine Arizona’s north-eastern mountain watershed.

From time to time, Arizona’s major water providers guide other state water officials, as well as other groups, on inspection tours of their facilities.  On February 22, SRP led a group of municipal and state water officials, as well as some local journalists, on such a tour.

Putting the trek together were Patricia DiRoss of SRP’s government-relations group; Charlie Ester, manager of the agency’s surface-water resource operations; Josh Robertson of resource planning; and, Evan Hallock of government relations.

They took us up in SRP’s Bell 212 Twin Huey, a heavy-duty workhorse that, among other duties, is used to hoist SRP linemen atop major transmission lines.

The one and a half hour tour traveled northeast from SRP’s east Phoenix facilities, flying first over the Verde River watershed and Bartlett and Horseshoe dams, then southeast to the Salt River system and the oldest and mightiest dam in the SRP system, Roosevelt Dam, which when full can hold back over 1.6 million acre feet of Arizona rainfall and melted snowpack.

The return trip took us over the Salt River system of dams and reservoirs – Horse Mesa Dam… Mormon Flat Dam… and, finally Stewart Mountain Dam and ever-popular Saguaro Lake.

The sights were encouraging.

Both Bartlett and Horseshoe lakes – themselves two of the most popular recreation areas in the state – were effectively full.  Ironically, that abundance of water stored in Bartlett isn’t the best news for campers – there isn’t a lot of shoreline evident for trailers and campers.

Horseshoe Dam

Even in drier years, the Verde watershed produces far more water than the SRP-operated system can hold. System releases are inevitable, and with Bartlett and Horseshoe effectively topped off, the system already is letting water flow toward the Valley.

The releases, which started February 10 at about 500 cubic feet per second, reached as much as 22,000 cfs at the end of the month. While the releases are varying, they are significant enough to make a statement about the abundant rainy season.

The truly encouraging sight on the tour, however, is the condition of Roosevelt Lake. At 35 percent capacity in the middle of December last year, Arizona’s biggest in-state reservoir today is at 60 percent of capacity, a level not seen in six years.

Roosevelt Dam

SRP analysts are calculating that Roosevelt will rise at least to 80 percent of capacity this season if the winter storms continue into March. Indeed, they surmise there is an outside chance the lake will fill up.

Our guide points to the new brickwork on Roosevelt Dam – the water level is just a course or two of bricks below the point where the dam was raised 77 feet in 1996, increasing storage capacity by 20 percent.

“We’re up more than 30 percent since December,” says Ester. “The snow survey we took yesterday indicates there is more snow up there than we’d anticipated. So, as long as we keep getting storms, there is a good chance we’ll fill Roosevelt this year.”

(A career-long SRP employee, Ester recalls that “as a kid,” he would put sticks in water after rainstorms to measure depth: “Who knew that as an adult I’d be doing the same thing?”)

The southwesterly flight back toward Phoenix takes us through the majestic Salt River canyons leading to Horse Mesa, Mormon Flat and, ultimately, Stewart Mountain dams.

It is like a winding river-raft tour through the Grand Canyon – a point not lost on our guide, Ester, who has waterskied on Canyon Lake behind Mormon Flat Dam many times:

“It’s great waterskiing,” he says. “You’d swear you were waterskiing in the Grand Canyon.”

Photos of Bartlett, Horseshoe, Roosevelt and Mormon Flat dams courtesy of William E. Toops, Pueblo Publishers

The new Zinke team, including appointments to Bureau of Reclamation, will need to learn quickly about the complexities of Colorado River water law and the drought-induced woes facing Lake Mead

By a comfortable 68-31 margin, the U.S. Senate today confirmed President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke.

The former Montana member of Congress will head a department that manages around 500 million acres of land and waterways in the United States.

Zinke’s department also includes the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the agency responsible for the system of dams and reservoirs on the Colorado River, the waterway that is integral to the livelihood of 40 million U.S. citizens living in the Southwest.

In a statement declaring his approval of the appointment, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake said he looked forward to working with Zinke’s department, notably on behalf of Arizona’s Colorado River allotment.

“I was pleased to vote to confirm Ryan Zinke for Secretary of the Interior,” said Flake in a statement released shortly following the Senate confirmation.

“Securing the Interior Department’s commitment to honor and protect Arizona water saved in Lake Mead was a major victory for our state’s proactive water conservation efforts.

“I look forward to working with Secretary Zinke to continue this and other policies critical to combatting the drought, preventing a water shortage, and ensuring continued access to Arizona’s share of the Colorado River.”

The new Interior leadership arrives at a critical juncture for the Colorado River system. Despite recent rains and a generally strong mountain snowpack, Lake Mead especially remains perilously close to the point where mandatory supply cuts would be made to protect the reservoir from descending below critical levels.

Zinke’s confirmation opens the door for his own leadership appointments to critical posts with Reclamation, which has direct oversight responsibilities regarding the Colorado system, including Glen Canyon and Hoover dams.

The negotiations to find an equitable way to stabilize the Colorado River system and, specifically, Lake Mead have been underway for nearly four years now.

In some respects, the parties at the table – including representatives of California, Nevada, the federal government and Arizona – largely have found common ground, in principle.

In other respects — notably achieving agreement among the many stakeholders with longstanding, legal claims to water from the Colorado system, as well as the big service providers — a resolution is far less clear.

Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, sat down recently to discuss the current status of the much-debated “Drought Contingency Plan” to stabilize Lake Mead, which continues dropping toward critical water levels each year, despite the occasional wet winter, such as this current one.

He also discussed – and defined – the plan that has become known as “DCP Plus” – a plan to permanently assure that no more water is allocated from Lake Mead than flows into it.

As Buschatzke describes, the health of the Colorado River system is critical to Arizona’s future. The system now supplies 41 percent of the state’s water supplies, providing an economic and societal lifeline to millions of residents.

Just what does it take for everyone to get to “yes” in the debate over a fair and equitable Drought Contingency Plan?

In this podcast, Director Buschatzke shares his thoughts on that and much more involving the state’s water resources.

As the director indicates, he remains hopeful. But, as he also makes plain, “hope” is not the same as having a plan.

To listen to this Water Resources podcast, click here.

Normally, we here at Water Resources prefer to stay off the topic of “weather” and, instead, stick to longer-term climate-related conditions, particularly drought.

The 2016-2017 “water year” — officially October 2016 to September 2017 — isn’t letting us do that. It’s just been too darned wet out there to avoid observing that current weather conditions are greatly impacting long-term climate conditions.

Two big, unavoidable weather stories are happening right now: The “biggest storm of the winter” that is now hitting southern California, and the more northerly disturbance following it that will push a lot of water where none is needed right now, the area of the Oroville Dam.

While the extremely wet Western winter has driven drought off the map in much of northern California, SoCal has been much drier. The sole remaining sliver of “extreme drought” in the Golden State, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, is in the south.

That status may be changing right now. Greater Los Angeles could get between five and seven inches of rain before the weekend is out. Hundreds of flights out of LAX are being cancelled. And the weekend rush hour commencing in less than two hours is guaranteed to be every traffic cop’s worst nightmare.

The bigger drama, however, remains to the north at the Oroville Dam, where a rain-and-runoff-damaged spillway has caused grave concerns for residents as far downstream as Sacramento.

The latest “atmospheric river” poised to hit northern California is expected late Sunday into Monday and perhaps five inches of rain could fall in the Oroville Dam region. Nevertheless, California Department of Water Resources officials are feeling much better about the dam’s condition than they were just a few days ago.

“The threat level – it is much, much, much lower than what it was on Sunday,” said CDWR Acting Director Bill Croyle to reporters on Thursday.

The Oroville crisis prompted some considerable interest among local media about the condition of Arizona dams.

As ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke explained to ABC News 15 earlier this week, Arizona’s biggest dams — including the two mega-dams on the Colorado River and the Salt River Project dams — are inspected by the federal Bureau of Reclamation.

The ADWR dam-safety program regularly inspects 106 dams designated as “high-hazard potential” dams around the state, but none of which approaches the size of the 770-foot Oroville Dam, or the 3.5 million acre feet of water held behind it.