As six states turn up the heat on California to cut back on water consumption from the Colorado River Basin, the state has proposed its own plan, citing a 1922 contract that grants California senior water rights.
Under the six-state proposal, Southern California water agencies would be required to reduce their water allocation by as much as 32 percent if Lake Mead—the largest water reservoir in the U.S. formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and which straddles Nevada and Arizona—levels keep dropping.
The proposal comes in the wake of criticism over trillions of gallons of water from heavy rainfall that flowed out to sea in January, despite nearly a decade of promises from Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his predecessor former Gov. Jerry Brown, to build more water reservoirs in the state….