Why the basin states’ fight over Colorado River water is a big deal for Arizona

Article originally posted on HERE on October 1, 2025

PHOENIX — Central Arizona Project (CAP) delivers water to about 90% of the state’s population.

CAP is a 336-mile system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants and pipelines that carries Colorado River water to Arizona’s most-populated regions.

Terry Goddard, president of CAP, is worried about how operations will have to be restructured if Arizona gets shorted in when new Colorado River operating guidelines are finalized next year.

The basin states first agreed to Colorado River operating guidelines in 2007 when they anticipated future water shortages. When the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation made the original allocations, they believed the river could be relied on 18-20 million acre-feet of water. But now, the figure is around half that amount, at 10-11 million-acre feet, resulting in ongoing allocation cuts to some states that use Colorado River water, including Arizona.

The current operating guidelines expire at the end of 2026, and the Colorado River Basin states, along with Congress, must reach a new agreement by then.

Goddard, a former Phoenix mayor and state attorney general, told KTAR News’ AZ Political Podcast with Jim Sharpe last week that the basin states have not been able to come to an agreement over the last two years of discussions.

Arizona bears brunt of current Colorado River cuts

Under the current operating guidelines, the Bureau of Reclamation mandated that the lower basin states cut 720,000 acre-feet of their Colorado River water allocation this year and next.

Arizona had to absorb most of the cuts, 512,000 acre-feet, mainly impacting farmers in Pinal County.

“There basically is no more CAP service to Pinal County agriculture. Those farms either are on the pump or they’re going dry,” Goddard explained.