- The Colorado River Indian Tribes will provide 9,009 acre-feet of conserved water to a Central Arizona Project agency.
- The agreement is worth about $5.3 million, or $590 per acre-foot.
- The water was originally conserved to help protect Lake Mead.
- The deal closes out the Tribes’ remaining water from the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan.
- The two agencies also agreed to explore future water partnerships.
Saturday, September 19, 2026 — A block of Colorado River water that has been sitting in Lake Mead is about to take on a new purpose.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes and the Central Arizona Water Conservation District have reached an agreement involving 9,009 acre-feet of previously conserved Colorado River water.
The Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board
approved the agreement September 3.
Under the deal, the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District will acquire the right to take delivery of the water. If transferring the conserved water credits is not practical, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District and the Tribes can instead enter into a lease for the same amount of water under the same terms.
For the Colorado River Indian Tribes, the transaction also closes the final chapter of a conservation effort that began years earlier as the Colorado River struggled with declining reservoir levels.
Water Saved for Lake Mead.
The water involved in the agreement is known as Intentionally Created Surplus.
The basic idea is fairly straightforward. Water that could otherwise have been used was conserved and left in the Colorado River system. Accounting rules allow qualifying conserved water to be credited for possible later use.
The Central Arizona Project said the 9,009 acre-feet involved in the new agreement came from extraordinary conservation credits created through fallowing farmland operated by the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
The Manataba Messenger, a publication of the Colorado River Indian Tribes Media Department, reports that the Tribes conserved approximately 160,000 acre-feet between 2020 and 2022 in response to federal requests to help stabilize Lake Mead.
The Tribes received $38 million for 150,000 acre-feet of that conservation, according to the Manataba Messenger. That worked out to about $254 per acre-foot.
About 10,009 acre-feet remained uncompensated. That water was converted into Intentionally Created Surplus so it would not be lost and remained stored in Lake Mead.
Accounting for system and evaporation losses later reduced the balance by 10 percent, leaving 9,009 acre-feet.
Agreement Worth About $5.3 Million.
Under the new agreement, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District will pay the Colorado River Indian Tribes $590 per acre-foot.
That puts the total value of the transaction at approximately $5.3 million, with payment made in two installments, according to the Manataba Messenger.
The Tribes said acting now was important because additional rules can reduce Intentionally Created Surplus credits through evaporation and system losses. Water recovery can also become more limited when Lake Mead falls to certain elevations.
CRIT Chairwoman Amelia Flores said the agreement allows the Tribes to receive economic value for the remaining conserved water while continuing to support responsible management of the Colorado River.
“This agreement reflects Tribal Council’s continued leadership in advocating for responsible and sustainable use of Colorado River water supplies,” Flores said.
She added that Tribal leaders believed the Tribes could eventually lose the water if they did not act.
The Last Water From an Earlier Drought Deal.
The 9,009 acre-feet represents the last remaining water the Colorado River Indian Tribes made available under the Drought Contingency Plan agreed to in 2019, according to the Manataba Messenger.
That gives the transaction significance beyond its size.
It ends the Tribes’ involvement with this block of conserved water and transfers it to another Arizona water agency.
The Central Arizona Water Conservation District operates and maintains the Central Arizona Project, which delivers Colorado River water through central and southern Arizona.
The water in this agreement is being acquired for the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District.
More Cooperation Could Follow.
The agreement does more than transfer the 9,009 acre-feet.
The Central Arizona Water Conservation District and the Colorado River Indian Tribes also committed to looking for additional opportunities to work together on water management and governance.
CRIT Councilman Tommy Drennan described the transaction as closing the books on the Tribes’ final chapter in the Drought Contingency Plan while recognizing the need for continued cooperation on the Colorado River.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes hold water rights dating to the reservation’s creation on March 3, 1865. According to the Tribes, those rights are the most senior tribal water rights in the Lower Colorado River Basin.
The September agreement now converts the Tribes’ remaining conserved water from the 2019 drought program into approximately $5.3 million in compensation, while making 9,009 acre-feet available to the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District.
