Rumble in the Jungle, er, Desert

Welcome to the first ever Watermania event, held by the WWE (Water Wars Entertainment). We’ve got one heck of a fight today, with California up against its former besties – Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, and Nevada!

🤼‍♂🏞 Let’s set the stage: The seven states listed above rely on the Colorado River for their water supply. But over the past few decades, hotter temps and decreased rains have lowered the average annual flow for the River below what’s needed – which kicked off a state squabble over water rights.

So the federal government stepped in and set a January 31 deadline for the states to deliver a plan to conserve their water usage by 15%-30%... which came and went without any agreement. But not because they didn't send any plans.

They sorta… sent one too many (two).

• Proposal #1: Six of the seven states – all but California – submitted a proposal to cut water use by factoring in the 489 trillion gallons of water per year that’s lost due to evaporation and transport (which hadn’t been done previously). Under this plan, over 326 trillion gallons of the cuts would come from California, about 25% of its total yearly allotment.
• Proposal #2: The Golden State wasn’t too happy about this plan, and clapped back with a proposal of its own – one that said existing seniority rights should take priority. California has the most senior rights out of the states and, under its proposal, would only give up about 130 trillion gallons, less than half of what’s being asked in the other plan.

👀 Looking ahead... The US Department of the Interior – aka the Watermania referee – will ultimately make the call on the dispute. The agency is currently reviewing both proposals, and will make a decision by late summer.