Get Paid to Use Less Water? Colorado's New Plan Aims to Do Just That

Desperate times call for desperate measures. A new plan designed to save water will pay residents to reduce their use of this dwindling resource in the Colorado River Basin. Here is a closer look at the specifics of the plan.

Officials Brainstorm How to Pay Residents to Conserve Water

The Colorado River water crisis is getting worse as drought conditions persist across the part of the nation. Local officials have hatched a new plan that would pay residents to voluntarily use less water from the river. The plan is still in its early stages, as officials try to determine how the money would be divided between the participating states and how the water use would be lowered.

According to Amy Ostdiek, chief of the Colorado River Water Conservation Board, the group hopes to encourage participation among different sectors of the region. The pilot program could result in about a year's worth of water savings. A new federal plan released at the end of July could translate to cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet of water spread across areas in California, Nevada, and Arizona. For context, one acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, the amount needed for two average households over the course of a year.

This is not the first time that federal and local programs have tried to reduce water consumption by compensating residents for doing their part. Some farmers in the Upper Basin region were paid to lower their water use from 2015 to 2018. These farmers were paid approximately $180 for every acre-foot of water conserved. The savings came as farmers switched to more water-efficient crops or ditched some irrigation plans completely.

In 2023, the federal government used a similar program for agricultural interests, water districts, and Native American tribes in the Lower Basin states. This program paid participating groups to voluntarily use roughly 2.3 million acre-feet less water than what had previously been allocated.

Ostdiek said that the Colorado River Compact contribution program will start to accept applications for conservation projects within the next few months before starting in 2027. Officials in Colorado said that the latest plan will serve as a parallel program to current discussions about how to allocate water sourced from the Colorado River as the drought deepens.

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