AZ Misses Another Deadline For Colorado River Drought Plan; 12/16 Key Documents Drafts Or Concepts
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Arizona does too. Governor Doug Ducey's office is not working on comments to send to the feds. Instead, negotiators are still trying to finalize all of the agreements it needs in order to put its Drought Contingency Plan into action. "Arizona is committed to seeing [the Drought Contingency Plan] through. At this time, we are not preparing additional comment," Patrick Ptak, a spokesperson for the governor, said in an email Tuesday.
As of Monday, 12 out of the 16 different agreements that Arizona needs to finalize in order to put its Drought Contingency Plan into action were still in draft or concept form, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. These unfinished agreements spell out exchanges of water and money between varying permutations of tribes, state agencies, the federal government, agricultural districts, a utility company, cities, and other groups. Of the four finished agreements, only one has been completed since Arizona's drought negotiators held their final meeting on February 19.
During that meeting, the leaders of Arizona's drought negotiations said that everyone was working to finalize their respective agreements. But they also expressed confusion and at times, disdain, for the next federal deadline. Was it March 4? March 19?
"That's an artificial deadline," Ted Cooke, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, told reporters in February, referring to March 4. "We do not have a clear list of things that need to be completed by that day." Asked on Tuesday for Cooke's comment on the passage of the March 4 "deadline," a spokesperson for the Central Arizona Project pointed to a press release from February 21, in which Cooke said Arizona was "making good progress toward completing these necessary agreements."
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https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-blow-drought-plan-deadline-california-irrigation-11231522
