Arizona faces 27% Colorado River cuts; officials say taps stay on but bills will rise

PHOENIX - Arizona will take the largest cut under a new federal plan for the drought-stressed Colorado River, but water managers say household taps in Phoenix and Tucson should keep flowing even as bills climb.

The Interior Department's two-year operating plan trims 1.25 million acre-feet a year from the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada. Arizona's share of that mandatory cut is 760,000 acre-feet a year, about 27% of its Colorado River supply, according to NPR's KJZZ reporting and the Arizona Republic. California loses 440,000 acre-feet and Nevada 50,000. Cuts begin Jan. 1 and run through 2028, with a path to steeper reductions later if reservoirs stay low.

Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the nation's two largest reservoirs, have fallen to record lows after more than 26 years of drought and overuse. Seven basin states failed to agree on their own long-term deal, so the federal government set the rules.

Arizona cities that rely on the Central Arizona Project say they have built groundwater, reuse and conservation reserves for this kind of shortage. The harder hit falls on agriculture and on the cost of building the next round of pipes, treatment plants and alternative supplies. Those capital costs are paid largely by the people and businesses that use the water.

Tom Buschatzke, Arizona's water chief, told state users the two-year cuts buy time but that Arizona rejects a longer framework that could deepen reductions without Upper Basin states sharing more of the burden.

For retirees in the Valley, the practical message is about the monthly bill, not an empty faucet. Providers have already folded some drought costs into rates, and more increases are likely as the 2027-2028 cuts bite. California and Nevada face smaller percentage hits but the same need to stretch every gallon.