In this episode, the staff is dealing with primary politics, and Cliff Calley returns as a lobbyist against a bill trying to come to a deal over the Colorado River. The problem of drought in the Southwest and the decline of the Colorado River portrayed in the show are all too real. The river is massively important to the 7 states, totaling about 40 million Americans, which depend on it for water and electricity. 18 years after this episode aired, a deal has finally been reached regarding the river.

The Colorado River starts near a Colorado town, Glenwood Springs, and travels about 1,400 miles to its end in Mexico. The 4 upstream states-Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico-take their water directly from the river, and have not yet used their full allotment of the river’s water. The three downstream states-California, Arizona, and Nevada-have been impacted to a greater extent. Southern California’s most significant source of water is the Colorado River, and the agriculture industry, which uses the largest amount of the state’s allotment, is especially dependent on the river. California has tried to become more water independent with their State Water Project, importing water to Southern California from the North’s Sacramento River water source. However, this has not had the impact needed to cut down on water reliance from the Colorado River, with the project only supplying 5% of the water requested in 2021 and 2022. Arizona, meanwhile, uses the water from the Colorado River mainly for its two big cities-Phoenix and Tucson-along with the water being used by Native American Tribes in the state. And Nevada depends on the Colorado River filling the Hoover Dam so Hydroelectric power can be generated for Las Vegas.

The Colorado River Compact, which has up to now been the basis for how much water each state was being allotted, was formed in 1922. It determined how much water each state would get, but this was at a time when there were only about 1.2 million people living in the LA region and only about 100,000 in Phoenix. Today about 18 million live in the LA region and about 5 million in Phoenix. Adding in the fact that there has been a 23-year drought from 2000 to 2023, there is simply not enough water to go around. But the biggest problem is not the fact that people will have less access to water, but that Lake Powell and Lake Mead are at only about 30-40% capacity. These two lakes feature the Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam, respectively, the two biggest dams in the country. The problem is that if water is not filling the lakes, then it can’t reach the turbines on the dams and be able to produce electricity. Electricity production rates at both these locations have already dropped off. If water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead do not rise, it is possible that the lakes may hit deadpool. This is the worst-case scenario, as it means that water would no longer be able to flow freely through the dam and that it would in fact cost electricity to pump water through the dams.

It was the lower basin states (California, Arizona, and Nevada) that needed to come to an agreement. They all agreed to give up about 13% of what they receive each year in an effort to fill up both lakes and will reevaluate in 2026. The federal government is going to give over a billion dollars in subsidies to help people adjust to the decreased water usage. For example, farmers may be paid not to grow thirsty crops like almonds or alfalfa. Agriculture is by far the largest consumer of water from the Colorado River, accounting for almost 80% of water usage (55% just on livestock feed). Nevada was already doing good cutting water consumption before this deal. But Arizona was going rogue with its water usage as more and more communities are being built in the state. California meanwhile was the strongest spot legally speaking in these negotiations, so if it wanted to probably could have continued using water at current rates. While Arizona could have been strong-armed into cutting more than it needed to, California seemed to play nice in negotiations. This is partly due to the fact that it is simply the right time, as California is experiencing an increased snowpack this year, giving them a little more water security. There are also some political factors, for example, both California’s Governor Newsom and Arizona’s Governor Hobbs are Democrats. Had the MAGA Republican Kari Lake won the Arizona governorship, it is very possible she and Newsom would not have been able to reach a deal. Newsom may have also played nice because he is speculating a presidential run, and would likely need both Arizona and Nevada to help win the presidency.

What is happening with the Colorado River stems from larger environmental problems-not conserving our resources and global warming. Cliff argues the region “is a desert, they’re growing monsoon crops”. Environmental scientists today argue for measures such as using more efficient irrigation, something which the government can promote by subsidizing farmers to install new irrigation systems. Some promote moving away from meat to a more veggie-based diet, the average water footprint per calorie of beef is 20 times that of grain, and while it is estimated that it can take over 38 gallons of water to produce one 1/4lb burger, it takes about only 5 gallons to attain the same protein from tofu. But this solution is more unrealistic, as it would be difficult for the government to change the American mindset around food choices.

18 years after this episode aired we finally have a deal like the one C.J. was fighting for, but it is not a permanent solution, and more will need to be done to truly conserve our water. Otherwise, we will have to move to other technologies like desalinization that Cliff was promoting.