Water Strategist

Recasting the California Water Plan: From Reference Document to Strategic Framework

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 23:50:32 GMT

California Water Plan 2028 represents a marked departure from the Water Plan’s traditional role as a retrospective reference document. SB 72 recasts it as a strategic, target‑driven planning instrument—one that sets measurable statewide water supply goals and aligns regional actions through standardized data and place‑specific strategies.

Beyond the statutory changes, Water Plan 2028 reframes the Plan’s fundamental purpose. Earlier updates functioned as broad, descriptive snapshots of statewide conditions; the 2028 update is being built as a strategic planning tool that sets direction, identifies priorities, and links statewide goals to regional actions. The emphasis moves from cataloging what exists to clarifying what must happen and how the state intends to drive that work.

The Shoshone Water Rights Permanency Deal: Structure, Strategy, and Basin Implications

Marta L. Casper — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 23:05:49 GMT

The Colorado Water Conservation Board (“CWCB”) recently approved an agreement that would convey to the state agency interest in the Shoshone Hydropower Plant’s senior and junior Colorado River water rights for instream flow use thereby permanently preserving flows in the river.

The powerplant’s water rights are non-consumptive, meaning the plant returns 100% of the flows it uses to the river. The senior right has an appropriation date of 1902 and is decreed for 1,250 cfs. It is the oldest Colorado River right in the State of Colorado, and the oldest mainstem right in the Upper Basin, making this a strategic move for streamflows in the State of Colorado and helping to protect base flows for the Colorado River Basin. Because of the senior status of the right, the state must keep enough water to meet that right—the administration of that senior call effectively moves 33,100–36,800 acre‑feet of water downstream past other potential diverters, all the way to the Utah state line and ultimately toward Lake Powell. The junior right has an appropriation date of 1929 and is decreed for 158 cfs.

The proposal requires three transactions:

MOU Would Open the Door to the Basin’s First Interstate Transfer Program

Marta L. Casper — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 22:43:49 GMT

On February 26, 2026, the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) Board of Directors approved an MOU with other Lower Basin entities to explore the potential of interstate water transfers and exchanges. The other parties include the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), and Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAP). The MOU is currently moving through their respective approval processes.

Securing Local Control: Queen Creek’s Long‑Horizon Water Supply Strategy

Marta L. Casper — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 18:01:46 GMT

Last year, the Town of Queen Creek approved two groundwater purchases that achieved the town’s goal of securing a 100‑year assured water supply. In both cases, the seller was Harquahala Valley Landowners, LLC in the Harquahala Valley.

The first purchase, initially proposed in 2023 and finalized in 2025, was for 5,000 AF/year for 100 years at a price of $…

Western Water in 2025: A Year of Widespread Drought and Strategic Positioning

Marta L. Casper — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 21:30:30 GMT

In 2025, drought wasn’t a regional anomaly — it was the backdrop for nearly the entire West. Only California, which began the year with strong reservoir storage and ended 2025 as the only U.S. state not experiencing some level of drought, broke the pattern substantively. Otherwise, the West saw deepening snow drought, early melt, depleted soils, and low streamflows—conditions that defined the hydrologic reality across nearly the entire western United States. From the Pacific Northwest to the Rockies and the Southwest, water managers faced a persistent pattern of scarcity that shaped operations, planning, and policy decisions throughout the year.

Drought was the backdrop against which water managers operated. At the same time, 2025 was a year of strategic positioning in western water policy. The seven Colorado River Basin states continued the complex process of negotiating post‑2026 operating rules. California continued navigating the ongoing Delta regulatory processes. Across the region, states leaned on groundwater management, instream flow tools, drought plans, and conservation programs to navigate a year in which hydrologic stress was the norm.

Tucson Bolsters Water Supplies with LTSC Purchase

Marta L. Casper — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 22:23:27 GMT

The City of Tucson purchased 21,000 AF of long-term storage credits (“LTSC”) from the Bureau of Reclamation (“BOR”). The transaction was part of larger block of 30,000 AF of LTSC that BOR sold last year. The remaining 9,000 AF were purchased by Central Arizona Water Conservation District and Arizona Water Banking Authority. (For details on the CAWCD and AWBA purchases, see “LTSC Deal Advances Southern Arizona Water Management and Firming Objectives,” WS November 20, 2025)

Is the Colorado River Basin Bankrupt?

Rodney T. Smith — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 21:37:08 GMT

At the 2025 annual meeting of the Colorado River Water Users Association (“CRWUA”) in Las Vegas, Arizona State University law professor Rhett Larson characterized the search for long-term post-2026 operating criteria for the Colorado River akin to a bankruptcy proceeding. A bankruptcy proceeding provides a forum for various priorities of creditors to “sort out” a failed enterprise and compromise their interests to solve pressing problems promptly.

The analogy is thought-provoking.

Time for the federal government to put the Colorado River Basin States under a five-year federal plan if they fail once again to meet their next deadline (February 14, 2026). Management of the Colorado River cannot wait. A “federal watermaster” should set short-term “rules of the road” as the parties continue to grapple with long-term issues. Time to abandon the past structure of shortage declarations and manage the Colorado River’s future with adaptative, forward-looking risk management.

The case statement has the following components:

The Hydrologic Challenge
The Catastrophic Failure of Colorado River Management
The Impasse of Seven Basin State Perspectives
Anticipated Future Challenges of Colorado River Management
Principles of a five-year federal plan

Legislation Review 2025: Emerging Policies, Planning Frameworks, and Funding Tools Shaping the Future of Western Water Management

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 19:10:26 GMT

This year, Water Strategist tracked 37 major water bills across 10 states in the Colorado River Basin, Pacific Northwest, and Texas. No major water legislation was noted in Idaho or Wyoming. This year’s bills fell into seven broad categories—conservation, planning, governance, PFAs, groundwater, funding mechanisms, and public trust and environment—and together reveal how Western states are exploring diverse approaches to advance water security.

LTSC Deal Advances Southern Arizona Water Management and Firming Objectives

Marta L. Casper — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:12:38 GMT

Central Arizona Water Conservation District (“CAWCD”) and Arizona Water Banking Authority (“AWBA”) have each approved a separate agreement to purchase 4,500 AF of long-term storage credits (“LTSC”) in the Tucson AMA from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (“BOR”). BOR sent a letter soliciting bids for the purchase of credits in May 2025. Bids were accepted …

Colorado River Post-2026 Operational Guidelines Alternatives Provide Panoply of Criteria for Analysis

Marta L. Casper — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 18:52:01 GMT

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released the “Alternatives Report: Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead,” which provides details of the alternatives that are being considered to replace the 2007 Interim Guidelines that expire at the end of next year. The Alternatives Report— which is not required under the federal process but was published to enhance transparency and public understanding of the process and to increase opportunities for collaboration—follows a three-page bullet-pointed summary of the alternatives and provides greater detail and compares operational details across the alternatives.

The report discusses five alternatives, including a “no action” alternative. Reclamation clearly notes two important points about the no action alternative:

“No action” does not mean that Reclamation will cease operating the Colorado River Dams. Reclamation has an obligation under the Colorado River Basin Act of 1968 and the follow-on policy known as the Long-Range Operating Criteria to coordinate operations of the Colorado River reservoirs. The No Action Alternative assumes that operations will revert to the operating guidance that was used prior to the adoption of the 2007 Interim Guidelines.
The No Action Alternative was included because it provides a benchmark for analyses and comparisons under the NEPA process. Reclamation does not expect it to be considered for adoption.

The remaining four alternatives are Federal Authorities, Federal Authorities Hybrid, Cooperative Conservation, and Basin Hybrid Alternatives. They all have different primary purposes.

The Public Trust Doctrine and California’s Water Future

Rodney T. Smith — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 21:57:08 GMT

Bring Back the Kern et al (Plaintiffs and Respondents) v. City of Bakersfield (Defendant and Respondent) v. North Kern Water Storage District et al (Real Parties of Interests and Appellants) (Super. Ct. No. BCV-22-103220)

Letter from the Editors

Rodney T. Smith — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 23:18:57 GMT

Dear Subscribers:

Thank you for your interest in the newly resurrected Water Strategist. We started publishing the original Water Strategist in 1987 and ceased publication in 2010 due to difficulty protecting our intellectual property. Lessons learned during our 15-year hiatus combined with changes in content management technology are allowing us to resume publishing, and we are excited to bring you fresh content. We are thrilled to be able to say, “Water Strategist is back!”

Our official launch date is June 30^th.

We are staying true to our roots with a focus on water markets and water supplies. Content will be tagged and organized into various updates: economic, legislation, litigation, policy, and water markets, along with Feature Articles that cover topics with a larger scope or magnitude of impact, have deep histories, or require more in-depth analysis. We will also be taking advantage of tools that are available in our new content management system to periodically post a podcast.

In the coming weeks expect to see articles on how Texas and Mexico are cooperating on the Rio Grande, how federal funding of water projects has been impacted by DOGE, litigation covering ratemaking and the public trust doctrine, policy updates on the ongoing struggle to define “waters of the United States,” management of the Salton Sea, and wise use of water in Lower Colorado River Basin, as well as an analysis of the strength of the economy, water transactions, and water market indicators.

Substack is suited to the regular, ongoing production of content, so we will post new articles on a regular, ongoing basis, with an average of an article per week. However, we still think in terms of issues (old habits die hard), so each quarter, we will publish a post that rounds up everything posted in the quarter. Whether you prefer to periodically read an article or to sit down and read an issue, we have you covered.

All subscribers are encouraged to contact us with any questions or comments.

If you subscribed as a premium member, make sure you message us to set up your one- hour consultation with Rod Smith and be sure take a look at our historical content. We still have a lot of content to add and are doing so in reverse chronological order, but if there is a particular old article you are looking for, please feel free to let us know.

Sincerely,

Rodney T. Smith, Editor
Marta L. Casper, Managing Editor

Then & Now: The Public Trust Doctrine

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 22:59:00 GMT

Water resource issues are inherently long-term. In Then & Now, JOW periodically looks back at major issues and compares the analyses, assessments and predictions made in Water Strategist (“WS”) with the state of the issue today. In this installment, JOW looks at the public trust doctrine.

In April 1987, WS explored the development of the public trust doc…

Court Petitioned in Southern Nevada Groundwater Development Project

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 22:31:00 GMT

Following a ruling by the Nevada State Engineer denying Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (“SNWA”) water right applications for its groundwater development project, SNWA filed a notice of appeal and a petition for judicial review with the Nevada District Court in White Pine County. A group of opponents have also filed a petition for judicial review.

The …

Deadlines Matter: Upper and Lower Basin DCPs Completed

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 21:46:00 GMT

On May 20^th, representatives from the Colorado River Basin States and the federal government gathered to sign the Upper and Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plans (“DCPs”). The plans, which are designed to protect the river and reduce the risks from ongoing drought conditions,

are needed because the once outside chance of a shortage declaration in the Low…

Lower Rio Grande Water Market Indicator: Trading is Up, But Expectations Remain Uncertain

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 21:33:00 GMT

Demand for Lower Rio Grande water created a lease market in south Texas. Lease prices vary by use, with agricultural water users typically paying lower rates per acre-foot because they have lower consumptive use of water.

Municipal users have priority in the system, with a municipal reserve of 225,000 AF reestablished each month. Excess water is allocate…

Middle Rio Grande Water Market Indicator: Market Declines to Non-Existence

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 21:29:00 GMT

To meet its future water needs, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (“ABCWUA”) acquires pre-1907 Middle Rio Grande water rights from area irrigators. ABCWUA was created by the New Mexico State Legislature in 2003 as a joint agency to handle water and wastewater administration for the City of Albuquerque and the County of Bernalillo…

CBT Water Market Indicator: Will Prices Continue to Increase?

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 21:19:00 GMT

Because the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (“Northern Water”) established simple mechanisms to allow trading of Colorado-Big Thompson (“CBT”) Project water, CBT units have been trading widely for about 60 years. The CBT Project is a federal water diversion project that brings water from the Colorado River headwaters on the West Slope to th…

Chino Basin Water Market Indicator: Activity Expected to Increase

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 19:43:00 GMT

A market has developed among members of the Appropriative Pool in the Chino Basin in Southern California. The Chino Basin has a long history beginning with the execution of a Memorandum of Agreement in 1974, a judgement adjudicating the basin in 1978, the development of the Optimum Basin Management Program in 1998, execution of the Peace Agreement in 20…

City of Rio Rancho Buys Water Rights to Meet Permit Obligations

Marta L. Casper — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 19:33:00 GMT

In August 2018, the city council for the City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico approved the purchase of 74.592 AF of pre-1907 Middle Rio Grande surface water rights from a private party. The city is paying $15,000/AF.

To offset its depletions caused by groundwater pumping, the City of Rio Rancho has an obligation under one of its water right permits to purchase…