<div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail-container gmail-container--story gmail-story-layout--fluid-fixed" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;border:0px none"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-summary-middle" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:960px;border:0px none;min-width:0px"><div class="gmail-container__row gmail-container__row--story gmail-story-layout--fixed-fluid" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:630px;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-media-item__summary gmail-size--medium" style="box-sizing:border-box"><p class="gmail-category" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.1rem;font-size:0.875rem;color:rgb(220,2,40)"><a href="https://www.politico.com/energy-and-environment" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(220,2,40);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/californias-opening-bid-wont-solve-the-colorado-river-crisis-alone-00060851<br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline">ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT</a></p><h2 class="gmail-headline" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0.5rem;margin-bottom:0px;font-size:2.5rem;color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:-0.05rem;line-height:1;font-weight:700">California's opening bid won't solve the Colorado River crisis alone</h2><p class="gmail-dek" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0.5rem 0px 0px;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.4">Outside observers say the fact of a formal offer at all from the largest player on the river is an important move at a time when negotiations have been stalled.</p></div><div class="gmail-media-item__image" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-media-item__image-wrapper" style="box-sizing:border-box"><div class="gmail-fig-graphic" style="box-sizing:border-box"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><img class="gmail-Image" alt="A sign reading &quot;keep out&quot; is displayed in the water by the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell." title="A sign reading &quot;keep out&quot; is displayed in the water by the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell." src="https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/36cf590/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5568x3712+0+0/resize/630x420!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2F60%2F6e%2Fef836d54499fb599c9231cfc9164%2Fcolorado-river-fish-at-risk-12531.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; width: 630px;"></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-container__row gmail-container__row--story gmail-story-layout--fixed-fluid" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;border:0px none;margin-top:0.625rem"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px"></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-horizontally" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:630px;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-story-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;max-width:39.375rem;margin:0px auto"><div class="gmail-story-meta" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-bottom:1.875rem;font-size:0.75rem;color:rgb(105,109,112);display:flex;line-height:1.2"><p class="gmail-story-meta__credit" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 0.625rem;font-size:0.875rem;border-bottom:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);padding-bottom:0.625rem">Water levels at Arizona's Glen Canyon Dam are predicted to next year fall within a few feet of the point at which hydropower production would cease. | Brittany Peterson/AP Photo</p><div class="gmail-story-meta__authors-timestamp gmail-has-social-tools" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0.46875rem;letter-spacing:0.1rem;display:flex"><div class="gmail-story-meta__details" style="box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.5"><p class="gmail-story-meta__authors" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px">By<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="gmail-vcard" style="box-sizing:border-box;text-transform:uppercase"><a href="https://www.politico.com/staff/annie-snider" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(110,115,129);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700">ANNIE SNIDER</a></span></p><p class="gmail-story-meta__timestamp" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px">10/11/2022 09:44 AM EDT</p></div><ul class="gmail-social-tools__list" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;list-style:none;display:flex"><li class="gmail-social-tools__list-item" style="box-sizing:border-box"><a href="http://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/facebook/offer?pco=tbx32nj-1.0&url=https://politi.co/3rK0A8n&pubid=politico.com" target="_blank" aria-label="Facebook (opens in a new window)" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(110,115,129);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;display:inline-block"><span class="gmail-social-tools__svg gmail-social-tools__svg--facebook" style="box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);border-radius:50%;width:2rem;height:2rem;display:flex;color:rgb(49,104,173);text-transform:uppercase"></span></a><br></li><li class="gmail-social-tools__list-item" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:0.625rem"><a href="http://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/forward/twitter/offer?pco=tbx32nj-1.0&url=https://politi.co/3rK0A8n&text=California%27s+opening+bid+won%27t+solve+the+Colorado+River+crisis+alone&pubid=politico.com&via=politico" target="_blank" aria-label="Twitter (opens in a new window)" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(110,115,129);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;display:inline-block"><span class="gmail-social-tools__svg gmail-social-tools__svg--twitter" style="box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);border-radius:50%;width:2rem;height:2rem;display:flex;color:rgb(29,161,242);text-transform:uppercase"></span></a><br></li><li class="gmail-social-tools__list-item" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:0.625rem"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/californias-opening-bid-wont-solve-the-colorado-river-crisis-alone-00060851#" tabindex="-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(110,115,129);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;display:inline-block"><span class="gmail-social-tools__svg gmail-social-tools__svg--link" tabindex="0" aria-label="Click here to copy URL" style="box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);border-radius:50%;width:2rem;height:2rem;display:flex;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-transform:uppercase"></span></a><br></li><li class="gmail-social-tools__list-item" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:0.625rem"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/californias-opening-bid-wont-solve-the-colorado-river-crisis-alone-00060851#" aria-label="More" class="gmail-social-tools__link--more" aria-expanded="false" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(110,115,129);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;display:inline-block"><span class="gmail-social-tools__svg gmail-social-tools__svg--more" style="box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);border-radius:50%;width:2rem;height:2rem;display:flex;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-transform:uppercase"></span></a><br></li></ul></div></div><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">California’s offer to conserve some of its share of Colorado River water over the next few years won’t solve the looming water and power crisis in the West — but it might be enough to kickstart negotiations among the states on a deal that could.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">The biggest hurdle to striking an agreement that would sharply curtail water use among the seven states that share the river has been the impasse between the two thirstiest states — California and Arizona — over which should shoulder the brunt of the cuts as climate change fuels the deepest drought in the region in 1,200 years.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><div id="gmail-pol-05-wrap" class="gmail-content-group gmail-ad gmail-is-loaded" aria-label="Advertisement" style="box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;margin-bottom:1.875rem"><div id="gmail-pol-05" class="gmail-ad-slot gmail-placeholder gmail-placeholder--250" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/6326/politico/policy-energy-environment_4__container__" style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0pt none;display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"></div></div></div><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">California’s offer in a<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="box-sizing:border-box">letter to federal officials</span><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>last week to voluntarily reduce its consumption of Colorado River water by 400,000 acre feet per year between 2023 and 2026 doesn’t move the dial on that dispute. But it does represent the first time California — the biggest user and senior water rights holder on the system — has put an offer in writing. And it makes an explicit overture to other states to “immediately reengage” in broader negotiations.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-hide-under-small" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div id="gmail-pol-02-wrap" class="gmail-content-group gmail-ad gmail-is-loaded" aria-label="Advertisement" style="box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden"><div id="gmail-pol-02" class="gmail-ad-slot gmail-placeholder gmail-placeholder--250" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/6326/politico/policy-energy-environment_1__container__" style="box-sizing:border-box;border:0pt none"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-container gmail-container--story gmail-story-layout--fixed-fluid" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;border:0px none"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-horizontally gmail-hide-under-medium" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px"></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:960px;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-container__row gmail-container__row--story gmail-story-layout--fluid-fixed" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-horizontally" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:630px;border:0px none;min-width:0px"><div class="gmail-story-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;max-width:39.375rem;margin:0px auto"><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“This is a step in the right direction,” Thomas Buschatzke, director of Arizona’s Department of Water Resources told POLITICO. “We absolutely agree with the need to continue the discussions as proposed in the letter to keep moving forward in a positive manner.”</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">Entrenched drought and decades of overuse have driven water levels at the river’s two main reservoirs precariously low, with levels at Glen Canyon Dam predicted to next year fall within a few feet of the point at which hydropower production would cease and the ability to deliver water downstream could be jeopardized. The federal Bureau of Reclamation has said that states need to conserve 2 million to 4 million acre feet next year just to head off a near-term disaster at the reservoirs.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">The offer outlined by California’s agricultural and urban water agencies last week matches the proposal the Golden State made during negotiations on a multi-state deal in August, which Arizona rejected as insufficient, Buschatzke said.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“The reason I didn’t sign off on a plan in August was because there wasn’t enough water involved in total, and there wasn’t enough water involved in looking at comparatively what Arizona would put on the table and what California would put on the table,” Buschatzke said.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">Four hundred thousand acre feet represents 9 percent of California’s allocation of Colorado River water and only 20 percent of the lower end of the range of that federal Bureau of Reclamation says needs to be conserved. Arizona is using nearly 800,000 acre feet less than it is entitled to this year, whereas California is using its full allocation, and is pulling out additional water from Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border that it had previously banked in the reservoir.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">But whether California’s ante makes significant progress on the goals laid out by Reclamation depends on whether it represents the sum total of California’s contribution, or comes on top of mandatory cuts being floated by the federal government.</p></div></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-vertically gmail-right-zone gmail-hide-under-small" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-story-enhancement" id="gmail-aside-0" style="box-sizing:border-box"><div class="gmail-ad" aria-label="Advertisement" style="box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;margin:0px auto"><div class="gmail-ad-slot" aria-hidden="true" id="gmail-undefined" style="box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-ad" aria-label="Advertisement" style="box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;margin:0px auto"><div class="gmail-ad-slot gmail-placeholder gmail-placeholder--250 gmail-js-lazy-load" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center;width:18.75rem;margin:0px auto;background-color:rgb(244,245,247);min-height:250px"></div></div><div class="gmail-container gmail-container--story gmail-story-layout--fixed-fluid" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;border:0px none"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-horizontally gmail-hide-under-medium" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px"></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:960px;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-container__row gmail-container__row--story gmail-story-layout--fluid-fixed" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-horizontally" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:630px;border:0px none;min-width:0px"><div class="gmail-story-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;max-width:39.375rem;margin:0px auto"><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">Although Reclamation<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/16/interior-water-cuts-colorado-river-negotiations-00052162" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" target="_blank" aria-label="didn’t follow through on its threat (opens in a new window)" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,123,199);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">didn’t follow through on its threat</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>to act unilaterally to impose cuts in August when the states failed to reach a deal, Interior Department officials have been discussing a<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/12/colorado-river-water-cuts-00051235" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" target="_blank" aria-label="handful of levers at their disposal. (opens in a new window)" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,123,199);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">handful of levers at their disposal.</a>Those include, most prominently, the option of subtracting the amount of water lost to evaporation or canal leaks from the total amount of deliveries that California, Arizona and Nevada are entitled to. This option could conserve a significant amount of water — an estimated 1.2 million acre feet — and could spread the pain proportionally among users in a way that is otherwise difficult to do within the water rights system.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">Every state except California has publicly backed this option, and Interior officials recently told states to begin preparing for the changes in 2024, according to Buschatzke.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">Chuck Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission, said adding those federally mandated cuts to California’s conservation offer appears to be the only way the states can get close to the amount of water savings Reclamation is seeking.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“We want to be clear that we see the contributions outlined by California would be in addition to, or on top of, the application of evaporation and losses in the lower basin,” he said.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">But California’s offer appears to be aimed at heading off such moves.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“It is California’s intention that this proactive voluntary action builds on existing agreements, contracts, compacts, and water rights to catalyze broader basin-wide conservation and helps to avoid protracted litigation that might otherwise result from regulatory or mandated actions,” the California water agencies said in the letter last week.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">The fact that California water users caveated their commitment as “voluntary” is also controversial. In 2021, California agreed to voluntary reductions in use as part of a deal with Arizona and Nevada to try to stabilize levels at Lake Mead, but the state wasn’t able to follow through with its part of the agreement, said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“That it’s voluntary makes it a little bit weaker, even weaker than it might seem when you look at the number,” Porter said. “It’s simply not the same thing as saying, ‘We will take a cut.”</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">And the reductions floated by the Golden State are a short-term fix for the next three years — seen by many as simply a band-aid meant to stave off an imminent disaster at the reservoirs — rather than a long-term solution to refill reservoirs and address the worsening condition of the river that climate scientists say will be the new normal.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“While the reductions proposed by California are step in the right direction, it is imperative to implement meaningful, permanent solutions to reduce water demands to help stabilize the Colorado River system and Lake Mead,” the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Nevada’s lead agency on Colorado River issues, said in a statement.</p></div></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-vertically gmail-right-zone gmail-hide-under-small" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-collection" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px auto;border:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35)"><div class="gmail-content-heading gmail-content-heading--bold" style="box-sizing:border-box;border-top-width:0px;margin:0px;color:rgb(0,0,0);padding:0.9375rem 1.25rem"><div class="gmail-content-heading__group" style="box-sizing:border-box"><h2 class="gmail-heading" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:0.75rem;letter-spacing:0.1rem;font-weight:700"><b class="gmail-bt-icon gmail-bt-icon--circle" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:400;font-family:main-icons;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-transform:none;line-height:1;color:red;margin-top:0.1rem"></b><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>MOST READ</h2></div></div><div class="gmail-module" style="box-sizing:border-box;padding:1.25rem"><div class="gmail-module__row" style="box-sizing:border-box"><div class="gmail-media-item__image" style="box-sizing:border-box"><div class="gmail-media-item__image-wrapper" style="box-sizing:border-box"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/kinzinger-endorses-dems-in-major-governor-secretary-of-state-races-00061128" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent"><div class="gmail-fig-graphic" style="box-sizing:border-box"><span style="box-sizing:border-box"><img class="gmail-Image" alt="aptopix-capitol-riot-investigation-95910.jpg" title="aptopix-capitol-riot-investigation-95910.jpg" src="https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/b2b7238/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2765x1843+0+0/resize/630x420!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2Fd5%2F80%2F301b8dc64ee3aa5f2904b2601db2%2Faptopix-capitol-riot-investigation-95910.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; width: 258px;"></span></div></a></div></div></div><div class="gmail-module__row" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0.9375rem"><ol class="gmail-media-item-list gmail-media-item-list--numbered" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;list-style:none"><li style="box-sizing:border-box;padding-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-media-item__summary gmail-size--small" style="box-sizing:border-box"><h1 class="gmail-headline gmail-override-font--core" role="presentation" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:din-2014,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1rem;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:1.12"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/kinzinger-endorses-dems-in-major-governor-secretary-of-state-races-00061128" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">Kinzinger endorses Dems in major governor, secretary of state races</a></h1></div></li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0.9375rem;padding-top:0.9375rem;border-top:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);padding-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-media-item__summary gmail-size--small" style="box-sizing:border-box"><h1 class="gmail-headline gmail-override-font--core" role="presentation" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:din-2014,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1rem;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:1.12"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/09/russian-ally-cancels-russian-led-military-drill-on-its-land-00061081" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">Russian ally cancels Russian-led military drill on its land</a></h1></div></li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0.9375rem;padding-top:0.9375rem;border-top:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);padding-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-media-item__summary gmail-size--small" style="box-sizing:border-box"><h1 class="gmail-headline gmail-override-font--core" role="presentation" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:din-2014,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1rem;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:1.12"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/bidens-about-to-turn-80-dont-expect-a-blowout-birthday-bash-00061090" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">Biden’s about to turn 80. Don’t expect a blowout birthday bash.</a></h1></div></li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0.9375rem;padding-top:0.9375rem;border-top:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);padding-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-media-item__summary gmail-size--small" style="box-sizing:border-box"><h1 class="gmail-headline gmail-override-font--core" role="presentation" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:din-2014,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1rem;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:1.12"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/los-angeles-city-council-racist-remarks-00061203" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">Biden calls for the resignations of LA council members as racist remarks roil City Hall<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></a></h1></div></li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0.9375rem;padding-top:0.9375rem;border-top:1px solid rgba(180,180,180,0.35);padding-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-media-item__summary gmail-size--small" style="box-sizing:border-box"><h1 class="gmail-headline gmail-override-font--core" role="presentation" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:din-2014,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1rem;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:1.12"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/11/nato-sending-ukraine-air-defenses-russian-missile-attacks-00061223" class="gmail-js-tealium-tracking" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;background-color:transparent">NATO pivots to sending Ukraine air defenses after Russian missile attacks</a></h1></div></li></ol></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-ad" aria-label="Advertisement" style="box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;margin:0px auto"><div class="gmail-ad-slot gmail-placeholder gmail-placeholder--250 gmail-js-lazy-load" aria-hidden="true" style="box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center;width:18.75rem;margin:0px auto;background-color:rgb(244,245,247);min-height:250px"></div></div><div class="gmail-container gmail-container--story gmail-story-layout--fixed-fluid" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;border:0px none"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-horizontally gmail-hide-under-medium" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px"></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:960px;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-container__row gmail-container__row--story gmail-story-layout--fluid-fixed" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex"><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-horizontally" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:630px;border:0px none;min-width:0px"><div class="gmail-story-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;max-width:39.375rem;margin:0px auto"><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">The river’s major players broadly recognize that such deals will be needed in the near-term, as longer term solutions like upgrading irrigation infrastructure and removing grass from desert cities, are implemented — though how money should be spent on those short-term efforts is a major point of controversy.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">The California water agencies said their offer is dependent on federal funding to compensate users — and additional federal funding to deal with the environmental crisis at the Salton Sea. That water body is fed by irrigation runoff from the Imperial Irrigation District; as that runoff is reduced for the purposes of conservation, the sea will further shrink, exposing toxic dust that threatens air quality for nearby communities.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">But, California doesn’t name a price in the letter. A spokesman for Imperial, a signatory of the letter and the largest single user of Colorado River water, said the district has discussed funding with federal officials, but did not name a figure.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">Congress approved $4 billion in drought relief as part of Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act — a large pot of money, but one that certainly won’t be enough on its own, especially at the rates that some farmers were seeking for a single year’s worth of conservation during the run-up to Reclamation’s August deadline. Those rates so alarmed some players that Nevada’s lead Colorado River negotiator<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="box-sizing:border-box">warned of “drought profiteering.”</span></p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“There is definitely a disagreement over whether dollars should be given — let’s just put it out there — to farmers to use less water temporarily,” said ASU’s Porter. “Four billion is a lot of money, but if we were paying the farmers at the levels they’re asking, it wouldn’t be sufficient.”</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">Interior officials have said they plan to put out two separate funding opportunities related to the $4 billion from the IRA — one focused on near-term deals like the one put forth by California, and another for projects that make longer-term water use reductions. There has also been discussion of giving participants in near-term projects priority for receiving awards in the second round, a factor that could have motivated California to formalize its conservation proposal last week.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 1.875rem;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">But, despite all the tensions California’s letter raises, outside observers say the fact of a formal offer at all from the largest player on the river is an important move at a time when negotiations have been stalled.</p><p class="gmail-story-text__paragraph" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.6">“Rather than waiting for the laborious process of these complex interlocking agreements where everybody agrees to how much they’re going to cut<i style="box-sizing:border-box">,</i><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>for California to say, ‘This is important, we’re going to go it alone” — that’s really important because the attempt to negotiate shared sacrifice is gridlocked,” said John Fleck, a water policy professor and writer at the University of New Mexico.</p></div></div><div class="gmail-container__column gmail-container__column--story gmail-center-vertically gmail-right-zone gmail-hide-under-small" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;width:18.75rem;border:0px none;min-width:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-left:1.875rem"><div class="gmail-story-enhancement" id="gmail-aside-2" style="box-sizing:border-box"><div class="gmail-ad" aria-label="Advertisement" style="box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;margin:0px auto"><div class="gmail-ad-slot gmail-js-lazy-load" aria-hidden="true" id="gmail-undefined" style="box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-container gmail-container--story gmail-story-layout--fixed-fluid" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;border:0px none"></div><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"><br></div></div>