The Yuma City Council is preparing for a legal fight on two fronts to protect the region’s water supply as competition for the Colorado River intensifies. Council members voted unanimously to authorize legal action over water transfers from rural areas to growing suburbs, as well as potential federal mandates that could reduce water allocations across the desert Southwest. … One of the city’s primary targets is a proposed transfer of Colorado River water from GSC Farm in La Paz County to the fast-growing town of Queen Creek. Yuma is joining Mohave and La Paz counties to challenge the transfer. Local leaders worry the move could set a dangerous precedent, allowing expanding municipalities to buy up and redirect water rights away from rural agricultural hubs.

Other Colorado River management news:

• The Colorado Sun (Denver): Nevada is suing over Colorado River regulations. There could be impacts for Colorado.
• Imperial Valley Press (El Centro, Calif.): Colorado River crisis deepens as federal plan imposes major water cuts across Southwest
• Public Policy Institute of California: Blog: Unpacking the latest developments on the Colorado River
• The World Economic Forum: Blog: How the American West can restructure its water debt
• Yale Climate Connections: Blog: Scientists link fossil fuel producers to the West’s worsening water shortages