California water agencies settle dispute
Two years ago, a pact to safeguard the West’s shrinking water supplies took effect at a ceremony high above the Colorado River. On a terrace overlooking Hoover Dam, water officials from seven states that rely on the river had gathered to sign a deal in hopes of preventing reservoirs from falling to critically low levels. The audience that broke into applause included officials from major water districts across the West that supply water to Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles. But notably absent from the May 2019 ceremony were representatives of California’s Imperial Irrigation District, the single largest user of Colorado River water.