The agreement between the Southern Nevada Water Authority (Las Vegas) and the Arizona Water Banking Authority, under which Arizona banked water for Nevada, has always seemed to me like a harbinger of the future in the Colorado River Basin – mutually beneficial sharing across state borders. Via Juliet McKenna and Michele Robertson, it now appears that it’s more a thing of the past. But with some lessons learned:
[T]he parties are now looking to terminate future water banking obligations. Lessons from the past are not forgotten, however; the new draft agreement provides the flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. In fact, the parties can agree to resume storage at any point in the future. This adaptive approach will be important to managing the Colorado River as both states grapple with the potential impacts of climate change and future population growth.