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STRATEGIC OUTCOMES |
ACTION |
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Department: |
☐ Safe & Prosperous |
☐ Motion |
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City Administration |
☐ Active & Appealing |
☒ Resolution |
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☒ Respected & Responsible |
☐ Ordinance - Introduction |
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Division: |
☐ Connected & Engaged |
☐ Ordinance - Adoption |
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Administration |
☐ Unique & Creative |
☐ Public Hearing |
TITLE:
title
Post-2026 Guidelines for the Operation of the Colorado River - City of Yuma City Council Comments to Draft Environmental Impact Statement
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SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION:
Summary Recommendation
Direct and authorize comments to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Post-2026 Guidelines for the Operation of the Colorado River on the Federal Register. (City Administration) (Jay Simonton)
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STRATEGIC OUTCOME:
Submitting comments to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement furthers the City of Yuma City Council’s direction to protect and enhance the City of Yuma’s, and the Yuma Region’s, water rights furthering the City Council’s strategic outcome of Respected and Responsible
REPORT:
The United States Department of the Interior, through the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”), serves as the water master for the Colorado River Basin and is responsible for overseeing the management and allocation of the Basin’s water resources. This role is critical to ensuring that the Colorado River supply is managed efficiently, equitably, and sustainably. To provide operational certainty for all Colorado River users, Reclamation adopts operational guidelines through federal law.
The current operational framework, known as the 2007 Interim Guidelines, was developed in response to prolonged drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin. These guidelines govern the management of water shortages and coordinate releases from the system’s two primary reservoirs-Lake Powell and Lake Mead-while establishing protocols for allocating shortages among the seven Basin States: Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico in the Upper Basin, and California, Nevada, and Arizona in the Lower Basin. The 2007 Interim Guidelines, along with related agreements such as the 2019 Drought Contingency Plans and certain international treaties, are scheduled to expire on December 31, 2026.
The Post-2026 Guidelines will establish the operational framework for the Colorado River system beginning in Water Year 2027, replacing the expired agreements. These new guidelines are being developed in response to persistent hydrologic changes resulting from long-term drought, which have led to critically low reservoir levels and increased risks to water supply reliability and hydropower generation.
Reclamation, in coordination with the seven Basin States, Tribal Nations, the Republic of Mexico, and other stakeholders, is conducting a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process to evaluate alternative operational strategies. As part of this process, Reclamation has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) analyzing multiple approaches for managing releases from Lake Powell and Lake Mead under a wide range of hydrologic conditions. These approaches range from minimal changes to more federally controlled, supply-responsive, and highly coordinated operational strategies.
The Draft EIS evaluates five broad alternatives for post-2026 operations of the Colorado River system:
• No Action Alternative - Continuation of the 2007 Interim Guidelines and related practices beyond their expiration, serving primarily as a baseline for comparison.
• Basic Coordination Alternative - Increased federal coordination of reservoir operations without imposing significant new requirements on states or water users.
• Enhanced Coordination Alternative - Greater cooperative actions among Basin partners, with stronger linkages between reservoir elevations and operational decisions.
• Maximum Operational Flexibility Alternative - An adaptive approach emphasizing flexible use of system storage and increased responsiveness to real-time hydrologic conditions.
• Supply-Driven Alternative - Operations tied directly to actual runoff and storage volumes rather than fixed reservoir elevation thresholds.
To date, no preferred alternative has been identified. The federal Administration has stated that it expects the seven Basin States to negotiate a consensus solution. Although discussions have been ongoing, meaningful progress has not been achieved. Federal administrative deadlines under both the Biden and Trump Administrations have passed with little movement, and the proposals advanced by the Upper Basin and Lower Basin States remain significantly divergent.
The Lower Basin States-California, Arizona, and Nevada-have proposed an alternative that would reduce Lower Basin diversions by an additional 1.5 million acre-feet, with any further reductions shared equally between the Upper and Lower Basin States. This proposal has been rejected by the Upper Basin States, which have advanced an alternative calling for all reductions to occur within the Lower Basin States and the Republic of Mexico.
The Post-2026 Guidelines will play a critical role in shaping Colorado River management for decades, influencing water availability, interstate cooperation, environmental outcomes, and the long-term resilience of the river system. The Yuma region holds long-standing water rights and maintains direct contracts with Reclamation. This includes the City of Yuma’s direct federal contractual allocations of Priority One and Priority Three Colorado River water, which represents the City’s sole water supply source.
The final federal deadline for Basin stakeholders to reach an agreement is February 14, 2026. Given the current state of negotiations, it is unlikely that a consensus will be reached by that date. Absent an agreement, Reclamation is expected to proceed with selection of a preferred alternative and consider public and stakeholder comments submitted on the Draft EIS. The deadline for submitting comments on the Draft EIS is March 2, 2026.
FISCAL REQUIREMENTS:
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CITY FUNDS: |
$ 0.00 |
BUDGETED: |
$ 0.00 |
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STATE FUNDS: |
$ 0.00 |
AVAILABLE TO TRANSFER: |
$ 0.00 |
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FEDERAL FUNDS: |
$ 0.00 |
IN CONTINGENCY: |
$ 0.00 |
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OTHER SOURCES: |
$ 0.00 |
FUNDING ACCOUNT/FUND #/CIP: |
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TOTAL |
$ 0.00 |
- |
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT:
NONE
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS NOT ATTACHED TO THE CITY COUNCIL ACTION FORM THAT ARE ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK:
NONE
IF CITY COUNCIL ACTION INCLUDES A CONTRACT, LEASE OR AGREEMENT, WHO WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ROUTING THE DOCUMENT FOR SIGNATURE AFTER CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL?
☐ Department
☐ City Clerk’s Office
☐ Document to be recorded
☐ Document to be codified
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Acting City Administrator: |
Date: |
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John D. Simonton |
02/11/2026 |
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Reviewed by City Attorney: |
Date: |
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Richard W. Files |
02/11/2026 |