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Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt suggested the Biden administration appoint a "high-level mediator" to try to solve the impasse over how states will cut usage of water from the Colorado River. In an interview with E&E News's Jennifer Yachnin, Babbitt said someone like a retired federal judge or Supreme Court justice may be able to help bring new ideas to the table.
"That's what mediators do, they tease out people to think of new ways of settling this stuff. That's what we really need at this point," Babbitt said.
The seven Colorado River basin states missed a deadline last year to agree on a plan to cut up to 4 million acre-feet of water per year—on par with California's annual usage. The impasse has left California on one side, facing a coalition of the six other states.
University of Colorado law professor Mark Squillace agreed that mediation is worth a shot. "I firmly believe that every state is going to have to make some sacrifices if we are going to make significant inroads toward solving the crisis we now face on the river," Squillace said. "Right now, none of the states seem prepared to do that."
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Secretary Babbitt's right in that Interior can't do this alone. States can't do this alone. The tribes can't do this alone. The NGOs can't do this alone. There needs to be collaboration across all those groups to get it done. The problem is there is no existing institutional structure for that conversation to happen.”
