State water officials holding 1st meeting of the AZ Reconsultation Committee, starting a new round of #ColoradoRiver discussions. Topics include:
• Status of the implementation of DCP
• Process to prepare AZ for the reconsultation of the 2007 Guidelines
new.azwater.gov/sites/default/…
• Status of the implementation of DCP
• Process to prepare AZ for the reconsultation of the 2007 Guidelines
new.azwater.gov/sites/default/…
Tom Buschatzke of @azwater discusses goals in the process of developing new post-2026 #ColoradoRiver rules. Among them: 'Balance the need for certainty with the need for flexibility to address changing conditions and circumstances.' 
Background on the process here:
Federal water managers are about to start reexamining a 12-year-old agreement among western states that laid down rules for dealing with potential water shortages along the Colorado River. azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
Federal water managers are about to start reexamining a 12-year-old agreement among western states that laid down rules for dealing with potential water shortages along the Colorado River. azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
Buschatzke stressed ‘the importance of the tribes to our process’ and said state officials will talk with tribes throughout the process. There have been tensions about how state officials have handled discussions of tribes' unresolved water rights claims: azcentral.com/story/news/loc…
Ted Cooke of @CAPArizona says the process will also include "confidential evaluations of various alternatives." #ColoradoRiver
Q&A with reporters afterward:
How will planning for the effects of climate change be part of the process?
Buschatzke said officials will look at a range of scenarios. "We, together with the basin states and Mexico, will definitely be looking at that issue." #ColoradoRiver
How will planning for the effects of climate change be part of the process?
Buschatzke said officials will look at a range of scenarios. "We, together with the basin states and Mexico, will definitely be looking at that issue." #ColoradoRiver
As for why state officials will keep some discussions confidential, Buschatzke said: "We need the room to be able to negotiate and to have the right balance between transparency and confidentiality." #ColoradoRiver
Buschatzke said a key goal will be "making sure the river out into the future is sustainable." #ColoradoRiver
Both stressed that the established law of the river is the basic structure that holds things together. There may be tweaks, they said, but not tossing aside this system to start anew.
Cooke: "We are not going to dismantle the law of the river." #ColoradoRiver / END
Cooke: "We are not going to dismantle the law of the river." #ColoradoRiver / END
