By
The Associated Press
MESA, Ariz. - The ripple felt throughout the West from California's energy woes may just be a precursor to larger problems the state could create for its neighbors, key officials say.
California's water situation mirrors the one that led to the current electricity problems, said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., the new chairman of the House Resources subcommittee on water and power.
"If we have an electric crisis in California, that's going to affect Arizona, that's going to affect Washington and Oregon, and that's going to affect other states, because it affects the price of energy," said Calvert.
"And the same thing applies with water. As water becomes less and less available, it's supply and demand. The price of water starts going up, the availability of it goes down, and we start having problems in the West."
The lawmaker's remarks came as a historic agreement between Arizona and California nears approval that attempts to resolve some important lingering Colorado River issues.
California traditionally has used more than its allotted 4.4 million acre-feet of lower river basin water per year. Under the new agreement, the state would be required to scale its use back to the legal level over the next 15 years.
Of the 7.5 million acre-feet of annual lower Colorado River water available, Arizona is entitled to 2.8 million acre-feet and Nevada gets 300,000 acre-feet. Over the past few years, the river has run a surplus, which thirsty California has tapped for as much as 800,000 extra acre-feet a year. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.
