As Midwest states struggled with record spring flooding this year, the Southwest was wrestling with the opposite problem — not enough water. On May 20, federal officials and leaders from seven states signed the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan, a sweeping new water management agreement for this arid region.
The plan is historic. It acknowledges that southwestern states need to make deep water use reductions — including a large share from agriculture, which uses over 70% of the supply — to prevent Colorado River reservoirs from declining to critically low levels.
But it also has serious shortcomings. It runs for less than
