Arizona Senator Proposes New Commission To Address Colorado River Water Cuts

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October 27, 2026

By Staff Reporter |

A state lawmaker is proposing the creation of a new commission to address the water crisis.

State Senator Tim Dunn (R-LD25) announced the proposed commission in a Monday press release in which he also urged for the passage of HR 10420, legislation from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) that Dunn helped to craft.

Dunn said that he is drafting the legislation to create the Arizona Colorado River Commission.

Arizona is the only Lower Basin state in the Colorado River Basin without a state-level commission dedicated to handling the state’s water allotment. Dunn says a commission will strengthen the state’s position at the bargaining table when it comes to water rights.

The Colorado River Basin has reached historically low levels, forcing the federal government to proceed with water cuts across the seven western states relying on the supply.

Dunn criticized the federal government’s planned water allotments for Arizona — the largest cuts in the Colorado River Compact — as unworkable. Arizona faces a reduction of approximately 30%, or about 760,000 acre-feet annually. Arizona, along with the other Lower Basin states of California and Nevada, faces cuts while the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico face no mandatory cuts.

“Arizona families, farmers, and businesses cannot afford a future defined only by deeper cuts and higher costs,” said Dunn. “Conservation is essential, but telling our state to stop growing and simply make do with less is not a strategy. Arizona feeds the nation and supports industries critical to America’s independence and defense.”

Instead, Dunn says that the state needs to strengthen its advocacy for its preferred water plans.

“Congress must advance these projects, and I am drafting legislation to establish an Arizona Colorado River Commission so we can strengthen our water contract holders’ position in negotiations with other Basin states,” said Dunn.

Biggs’ bill, shaped by Dunn, would authorize $19 billion for water supply and infrastructure across the seven states in the Colorado River Compact. The funding proposes to empower utilities, private entities, and state, local, and tribal governments to take up projects to maximize the existing water supply, such as desalination, aquifer recharge, storage, treatment, and infrastructure to move water.

Additionally, the legislation would authorize $1 billion to restore, modernize, and expand the Yuma Desalting Plant, and invest another $1 billion for desalination projects in Mexico. The bill would also authorize $12 billion for federal water infrastructure support, including feasibility studies for capturing water discharged to the ocean off the California coast.

Last week, Arizona joined a lawsuit initiated by the state of Nevada against the Trump administration over the water reduction plan.

Tom Buschatzke, chair of the Arizona Water Banking Authority, told reporters last week that the Law of the River supports Arizona’s right to a certain volume of water from the Colorado River.

“We believe that, under the Law of the River, the federal government has an obligation to operate the Colorado River system to comply with the terms of the compact, including the volume of water that, under the law, is supposed to move from the Upper Basin to the Lower Basin,” said Buschatzke.