Yuma City Council submits comments on Colorado River’s future

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - The Yuma City Council has submitted comments on the future of the Colorado River.

The federal process will determine how the river will be managed for decades to come.

Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls says it's important to have collaboration to find out if there's a risk of a water supply shortage.

"We're opening up the walls of the river and how distributions happen. These threats that Yuma County has are direct contracts with the federal government, so they really shouldn't be at risk, but you really don't know," Mayor Nicholls shared.

In its submission, the Yuma City Council addressed proposed strategies for managing Lake Powell and Lake Mead as those are the two major reservoirs that regulate the Colorado River.

The city also emphasizes the need to maintain reservoir levels to ensure reliable water delivery and sustainability.

Nicholls says it's all in an effort to ensure Yuma's share of the river isn't affected, and that it's important to conserve water to the best of our ability.

"I also believe that it's efficient, and beneficial use of water is important to maintain our rights doesn't mean we can't use water. It just means let's not set ourselves up to waste it," the mayor expressed.

Valentine Sierra, a representative of Amigo Farms, says he's worried about the water cutbacks since they are dependent on the water for growing winter crops.

"With cutbacks, obviously, it's harder for us to grow. We're depending on the Colorado River not just here in the desert, but other states as well, and it's one of the vital water sources we have here," Sierra remarked.

Yuma is one of the nation's leading producers of winter vegetables, and reliable river water is vital for growing.

"The river water helps grow all these vegetables. We're very depending on it...It's one of the main sources here that we need to grow and produce water," Sierra added.

For more on the Colorado River operations, click here.