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A28 u.s. news
Diabierna 13 augustus 2021

First water cuts in U.S West supply to hammer Arizona farmers

tined for overseas markets. The cuts will be most deeply sources. Among the options
felt in Arizona, which entered are importing groundwater
“It was fun just keeping the into an agreement in 1968 to metropolitan Phoenix and
family business going, work- for junior rights to Colorado Tucson from other parts of
ing with my dad,” said Thel- River water in exchange for the state, leasing more water
ander, a 34-year-old, fourth- U.S. funding to build a 336- from tribes, creating a more
generation farmer whose of- mile (540-kilometer) canal to robust supply of recycled
fice is a dusty pickup truck. send the water through the water and desalinating water
desert to major cities. from the Sea of Cortez in
Thelander manages almost Mexico.
half of the 6,000 acres his Agriculture won’t end in
family farms under Tempe Pinal County, but the cuts “They all work together,” said
Farming Co., much of it de- to farmers will force more of Ted Cooke, general manager
voted to corn for cows. He’s them to rely on groundwater of the Central Arizona Proj-
not planning on growing that that’s already overpumped. ect, which manages the canal
crop next year, opting for system that carries river wa-
(AP) — A harvester rum- rado River supply next year others that will be more prof- Hardly anyone expects a ter. “Some of them are more
bles through the fields in will be a blow for agriculture itable on less land. more than 20-year mega- near term, some of them are
the early morning light, in Pinal County, Arizona’s drought to improve. Models farther away, some of them
mowing down rows of top producer of cotton, bar- He didn’t plant anything show the Colorado River will are more costly than others,
corn and chopping up ley and livestock. Dairies on 400 acres this year to cut shrink even more in com- but all of those things need to
ears, husks and stalks into largely rely on local farms for down on water use. Farmers’ ing years because of climate be done.”
mulch for feed at a local feed and will have to search Colorado River water comes change, leading to additional
dairy. farther out for supply, and the by way of Lake Mead, which cuts that could ultimately af- Under a drought contingen-
local economy will take a hit. sits on the Arizona-Nevada fect home taps. cy plan that Western states
The cows won’t get their border and serves as a ba- signed in 2019, some of the
salad next year, at least not The cuts are coming earlier rometer for water deliveries The river carries melted snow water that farmers will lose
from this farm. There won’t than expected as a drought to Arizona, Nevada, Califor- from the Rocky Mountains will be replaced by other
be enough water to plant the has intensified and reservoirs nia and Mexico, in the river’s and other tributaries through sources next year. Arizona,
corn crop. dipped to historic lows across lower basin. seven Western states, provid- the Central Arizona Project,
the West. Scientists blame cli- ing drinking water, nourish- environmental groups and
Climate change, drought and mate change for the warmer, The nation’s largest reservoir ment for crops and habitat others have kicked in mil-
high demand are expected to more arid conditions over the already has hit the level that for plants and animals. Lake lions of dollars to soften the
force the first-ever mandato- past 30 years. triggers mandatory shortages Mead and Lake Powell, the blow to farmers and improve
ry cuts to a water supply that — 1,075 feet (328 meters) river’s two largest reservoirs, groundwater infrastructure.
40 million people across the Standing next to a dry field, above sea level. The Bureau are popular for recreation
American West depend on his boots kicking up dust, of Reclamation will issue the and their dams produce hy- The Maricopa-Stanfield Ir-
— the Colorado River. The farmer Will Thelander said official projection for 2022 dropower for the region. rigation and Drainage Dis-
U.S. Bureau of Reclama- “more and more of the farm water deliveries Monday, trict, where Thelander farms,
tion’s projection next week is going to look like this next giving users time to plan for “It’s such a significant river,” plans to have nine wells com-
will spare cities and tribes but year because we won’t have what’s to come. said Sarah Porter, director plete by year’s end.
hit Arizona farmers hard. the water to keep things of the Kyl Center for Water
growing everywhere we Arizona is expected to lose Policy at Arizona State Uni- District President Bryan
They knew this was com- want.” 512,000 acre-feet of water, versity. “It used to be called Hartman said it won’t pump
ing. They have left fields about one-fifth of the state’s the Nile of the West, which is anywhere near what it used
unplanted, laser leveled the His father, Dan, tried to steer Colorado River supply but almost impossible to believe to and will be looking for
land, lined canals, installed his kids away from farming, less than 8% of its total water. these days.” other sources, likely turning
drip irrigation, experimented not because water would be Nevada will lose 21,000 acre- to cities and tribes with high-
with drought-resistant crops scarce but because develop- feet, and Mexico will lose Arizona has positioned itself er priority water rights.
and found other ways to use ment was expected to swal- 80,000 acre-feet. An acre- to weather the cuts by stor-
water more efficiently. low farms between Phoe- foot is enough water to sup- ing water underground and The next few months will be
nix and Tucson where their ply one to two households a in Lake Mead and through critical to planning for a fu-
family grows alfalfa, corn for year. conservation. It’s also try- ture with less water.
Still, the cutbacks in Colo- cows, and cotton, some des- ing to secure other water

Flooding, power outages hit Michigan as storms rake Midwest

(AP) — Flooding brought by heavy rains Michigan utilities that had been working to re- lowing Wednesday storms.
shut down some freeways in the Detroit area store power following earlier outages caused by
Thursday as waves of thunderstorms made high winds reported more than 970,000 outages in In Wisconsin, residents took cover Wednesday
their way across large swaths of the Midwest, the state Thursday morning following overnight from a sixth straight day of severe thunderstorms,
leaving nearly 1 million homes and businesses storms, with two-thirds of those involving DTE and at least two tornadoes touched in the west-
without power in Michigan at one point. Energy customers in southeastern Michigan. central and northeast parts of the state. Authorities
in Monroe County, about 100 miles northwest of
The storms continued Thursday afternoon as dan- By 3 p.m. Thursday, crews working for several the state capital of Madison, said a tornado there
gerous heat persisted in the Northwest, Northeast Michigan utilities had restored power to about destroyed a barn and a shooting club. No one was
and the central portions of the country. Heat warn- 100,000 homes and businesses around the state, al- hurt.
ings and heat advisories were in effect for another though some 830,000 customers remained in the
day Thursday. Local officials opened cooling shel- dark, uncertain when their power might return.
ters for residents sweltering in the hot conditions.
DTE Energy said that wind gusts stronger than 60
Portions of interstates 94 and 696 were closed early mph (96.6 kph) had caused extensive tree damage,
Thursday in the Detroit area, along with a stretch resulting in more than 3,000 downed power lines.
of I-696 in Livingston County. Most portions of
those freeways later reopened, but standing water Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana also have been hit
remained in the Detroit area, which has been hit by by recent rounds of storms. Utility poles were bro-
multiple rounds of flooding this summer. ken and transformers damaged in the Fort Wayne
and South Bend areas of northwestern Indiana fol-