The Colorado River — a vital water source for 40 million people in the Southwest — is seriously imperiled by overallocation and the effects of climate change. The need to swiftly reform the use of Colorado River water is clear. That’s why NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) along with a coalition of Waterkeepers and other local advocacy groups are asking the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to utilize its legal authority to stop the waste of Colorado River water in Lower Basin states, including California.  

The petition, drafted by students in UCLA’s Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, asks the Bureau to exercise its authority to ensure that all its water deliveries to Colorado River Lower Basin users are “reasonably required for beneficial uses” and are not delivered for uses that are “unreasonable.” Under existing law, the Bureau has the authority and duty to limit its water deliveries to prevent unreasonable uses of water, as the petition lays out.

The Bureau of Reclamation Bureau should:

• Undertake a process with stakeholder input to define the phrase “reasonably required for beneficial use;”
• Develop a robust, consistent, and transparent process for determining whether Lower Basin water users are adequately avoiding wasteful, unreasonable uses of water;
• Require and perform periodic reviews of Lower Basin water users to ensure that all water deliveries are, in fact, being used reasonably.

The petitioners, led by NRDC, call on the Bureau to enforce the law by not providing water deliveries that exceed those reasonably required for beneficial use.

Read the Petition