- A new petition demands federal enforcement of water conservation laws.
- Natural Resources Defense Council and Waterkeeper groups want wasteful water use in the Lower Basin halted.
- The petition outlines legal authority the Bureau already holds.
- Examples include wasteful turf irrigation and outdated cooling systems.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 — Yesterday, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), along with a coalition of Waterkeeper organizations and other advocacy groups, filed a legal petition with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
. The petition requests immediate enforcement of existing laws to curtail wasteful water use by users in California, Arizona, and Nevada—states that rely heavily on the declining flows of the Colorado River.
Petition Urges Enforcement of “Reasonable Use” Standards.
The central argument of the petition is that the Bureau of Reclamation is legally obligated to ensure water from the Colorado River is only delivered for uses that are “reasonably required for beneficial use” and not for “unreasonable uses.” According to the filing, this duty is grounded in both federal statutory law and judicial interpretations.
Cara Horowitz, director of the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic at UCLA, which helped draft the petition, explained: “This petition lays out how—under existing law, and by its own admission in federal court—the Bureau has a mandate to ensure that the water it delivers to California, Arizona, and Nevada is not squandered on unreasonable uses.”
Examples of Waste and Proposed Oversight.
The petition cites numerous instances of wasteful practices, such as the irrigation of ornamental turf in areas experiencing extreme heat and industrial operations that rely on inefficient, outdated evaporative cooling systems. These examples underscore the petitioners’ argument that large volumes of water are being used inefficiently, even as the Colorado River continues to face historic shortages.
To address this, the coalition calls on the Bureau to:
- Define the term “reasonably required for beneficial use” with stakeholder input.
- Create a transparent and consistent review system to identify and prevent unreasonable water use.
- Conduct regular evaluations of water deliveries to ensure compliance with legal standards.
Bruce Reznik, executive director of LA Waterkeeper, emphasized the importance of localized conservation: “By using the water that is already in the Los Angeles region judiciously—through local wastewater recycling, stormwater capture, and investments in efficiency—we can significantly reduce our demand for Colorado River water.”
Legal Foundation and Call for Immediate Reform.
The NRDC’s petition builds on prior federal acknowledgments that the Bureau has this regulatory power. It argues that despite clear statutory duties, enforcement has been lax, leading to misuse of an increasingly scarce resource. In their words, “the West can’t afford to continue to waste water unsustainably” (Dr. Mark Gold, NRDC director of water scarcity solutions).
The petition does not introduce new legal frameworks but rather seeks accountability under current law. It frames the effort as a necessary and overdue correction—particularly as climate change, prolonged drought, and population growth continue to strain the Colorado River Basin.
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