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The summer rainy season in Arizona appears on track to return in 2021, after a historically dry summer, according to weather service, AccuWeather. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
ARIZONA The summer rainy season in Arizona appears on track to return in 2021, after a historically dry summer, according to weather service, AccuWeather.
That s the prognosis given AccuWeather s chief long-range forecaster, Paul Pastelok, who released his predictions for the summer ahead.
In his annual prediction article, Pastelok said the desert southwest can expect an increase in precipitation during the summer monsoon.
Subscribe This year, we do feel we see signs that the monsoon will be stronger than last year and will provide enough precipitation to at least help the folks in the short term in the interior Southwest, Pastelok said.
Farmers to bear brunt from Colorado River cuts
The Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project said the anticipated reductions will be painful
Author:
May 5, 2021
Lake Mead is the largest reservoir on the 1.450-mile Colorado River, which serves millions of people in the Southwest. (Photo by Jordan Evans/Cronkite News)
The Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Central Arizona Project said the anticipated reductions will be painful
Felicia Fonseca
Associated Press
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. Arizona is prepared to lose about one-fifth of the water the state gets from the Colorado River in what could be the first federally declared shortage in the river that supplies millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico, state officials said.
May 4, 2021
I ve been receiving anecdotal reports from ecologists that they are already seeing early signs of tree mortality due to presumptive water stress…in May. This has potentially major implications for both regional ecology & wildfire risk during dry season to come… #CAwx#CAfirehttps://t.co/e93foytZbe Daniel Swain (@Weather West) May 4, 2021
Arizona is prepared to lose about one-fifth of the water the state gets from the Colorado River in what could be the first federally declared shortage in the river that supplies millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico, state officials said Thursday.
Arizona stands to lose more than any other state in the Colorado River basin that also takes in parts of Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Nevada and California. That’s because Arizona agreed long ago to be the first in line for cuts in exchange for federal funding for a canal system to deliver the water to Arizona’s major metropolitan areas.
A recent statement from the Arizona Department of Water Resources and Central Arizona Project is enough to make many reaching for a glass of water â or for those in the W.C. Fields camp, perhaps something stronger.
âAs the drought in the Colorado River Basin extends beyond its 20th year, we anticipate the first-ever shortage declaration on the Colorado River. The shortage will result in a substantial cut to Arizonaâs share of the river, with reductions falling largely to central Arizona agricultural users,â read the April 2 statement.
âThese reductions are painful, but we are prepared.â
Ditto, said the City of Mesa.
Severe Water Cuts Are Coming for Arizona. The Rest of the Southwest Is Next.
The restrictions are essential to keep the states from running dry, but vulnerable communities have already suffered from water scarcity for years.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
A member of the Navajo Nation fills water jugs at a public tap in New Mexico.
Two months ago, researchers at Utah State University estimated that Arizona, California, and Nevada would collectively have to cut their intake of Colorado River water by 40 percent over the next three decades due to drought. At a public meeting last Thursday, the Arizona Department of Water Resources confirmed the warnings: The cutbacks are coming, and soon.