PRESS STATEMENT

Statement from Director Tom Buschatzke on the Passing of Arizona Senator Jon Kyl

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17, 2026                                             

It is impossible to overstate the impact that Jon Kyl has had on water law and policy in Arizona and, indeed, throughout the Southwest. Among his many accomplishments, his determination to see complex Tribal water rights claims through to completion stands out. One of the most technically and politically challenging of all Tribal water settlements, the Arizona Water Settlement Act of 2004, would not have been possible without Senator Kyl’s skillful leadership. The AWSA, which the senator first introduced in 2000, was eventually signed into law in December 2004, codifying the largest water settlement agreement in Arizona’s history. His less known accomplishments, however, have proved just as impactful.

As a water attorney for Salt River Project, he was heavily involved in the negotiations that ultimately would lead to the enactment of the landmark 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act, as well as the creation of the agency I am proud to lead, the Arizona Department of Water Resources. 

In 1983, Kyl successfully represented the State of Arizona before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that confirmed the jurisdiction of the state courts for comprehensive water rights adjudications that include tribal and non-tribal water rights. Always willing to sacrifice the spotlight in favor of the difficult work of creating sound water policy behind the scenes, Senator Kyl was justifiably deemed one of the world’s most influential people by Time Magazine in 2010. His influence in the development of water policy in the Southwest will be felt for generations to come.

– Tom Buschatzke, Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources

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PRESS STATEMENT

Statement on Reclamation’s Record of Decision & Operational Guidelines for Future Colorado River Operations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 21, 2026                                             

After more than three years of difficult negotiations over post-2026 Colorado River Operations guidelines, Arizona and the Lower Basin states have created a level of stability for the Colorado River system with the adoption of the 2027-2028 operating guidelines in the Record of Decision. While the framework for years 3-10 continues to be of concern, we applaud the Department of the Interior for clarifying the decision-making process for operations beyond 2028.  That outcome allows for continued negotiations for years 3-10 while preserving our ability to protect Arizona’s legal rights to Colorado River water. 

We will continue to work with our partners in Arizona, the Lower Basin and Interior, to finalize the agreements necessary to implement the Lower Basin Plan. With the Record of Decision, the 2027-2028 Operating Guidelines and the supporting agreements in place, we can focus on a longer-term, equitable, basin-wide outcome that includes shared sacrifices along with our Upper Basin partners in an effort to avoid protracted litigation. The actions in the Lower Basin in recent decades to protect the system have demonstrated how much we can accomplish when we all join together as part of the solution.

– Tom Buschatzke, Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources

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PRESS STATEMENT

ADWR statement on Reclamation’s Final Environmental Impact Statement for Future Colorado River Operations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 31, 2026                                             

For many months it has been clear that the direction of Colorado River negotiations has been an exercise in lowering expectations, particularly for a long-term, seven-state agreement on operating this vital river system. It was that increasingly bleak scenario that prompted the three Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada to step forward with our proposal to help stabilize Lake Powell and Lake Mead with more than three million acre-feet of water savings over a two-year period.

While the FEIS just released by the Department of the Interior does nothing to elevate expectations around a coherent seven-state plan for shared sacrifice, it includes an analysis that allows the adoption of many of the core elements of the Lower Basin proposal. We will continue to work with the federal government, as well as with our tribal, agricultural and municipal partners in Arizona, and the other Colorado River Basin states, to make river operations work for the betterment of all.

The FEIS contains a framework that includes sideboards that are unacceptable for the state of Arizona including reductions in the Lower Basin of up to 3 million acre-feet per year, in priority. Such reductions would devastate Arizona’s water users and its economy. The FEIS framework also fails to include any Upper Basin reductions or sufficient use of water stored in the Upper Initial Units (reservoirs above Lake Powell).

A forthcoming Record of Decision and operating guidelines will provide the details for operations through 2028 and a framework for an additional eight years of operations. We hope to see those documents provide for operations in 2027 and 2028 consistent with the May 1 Lower Basin Proposal, including sharing reductions among the three Lower Basin states (Arizona, California, and Nevada) of 1.25 million acre-feet in each year, as well as an additional commitment of 700,000 acre-feet of system conservation water.

ADWR will continue to work to complete the agreements necessary to implement the Lower Basin Proposal while preserving Arizona’s legal rights.

We will provide additional statements and opportunities for interviews when Interior releases the Record of Decision and the operating guidelines.

PDF version linked here.

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