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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

So much bureaucracy occurs in the background. This new Colorado River  
water use agreement has been cooking for some time. It can only  
become more adversarial as that part of the world adds ever more  
population.

There is plenty of water; it's the people who are in the wrong places.

Ariz. fights changes in Colo. River plan

Shaun McKinnon
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 4, 2007 12:00 AM

Arizona balked Wednesday at proposed changes to a Colorado River  
drought plan and appealed to the federal government to settle the  
dispute or delay approval of the plan.

In a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and the other  
six states that take water from the Colorado River, Arizona officials  
said attempts to rewrite an agreement reached earlier this year put  
Arizona's share of the river at an unacceptable risk.

"We worked hard to try to put together this agreement, and the only  
thing Arizona asked is that it did not harm Arizona water users,"  
said Herb Guenther, director of the state Department of Water Resources.

	At issue is whether a new system of managing reservoirs on the river  
would threaten the portion of Arizona's allotment that serves Phoenix  
and Tucson. Arizona argues that changes sought by states on the upper  
river could deprive Arizona of water even when storage levels in one  
reservoir were high.

The request for federal mediation could upset an already-tenuous  
peace among the seven states, which negotiated for more than two  
years over how to manage the river in times of drought.

The states' version was undergoing a final review, and Kempthorne was  
expected to approve it in December.

The federal government wanted the plan in place to avoid protracted  
legal battles if drought or shifting climate continued to shrink the  
river's flow.

Growing demand for water among the nearly 30 million people who rely  
on the Colorado River has also increased tension.

Full story at:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1004river-arizona1004.html