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California has volunteered to conserve water, but some say it's not enough

California recently proposed water conservation measures that would reduce its consumption of Colorado River water.

But some say the proposal did not go far enough.

Earlier this year, the Department of Interior threatened to take action if states that use the river didn’t conserve more water.

When the states failed to respond, the agency backed down, enforcing cutbacks on Arizona already scheduled to take place.

California recently said it could cut back about 400,000 acre feet of water next year. Gary Wockner of the nonprofit Save the Colorado said that plan falls short.

“You know at some point, if the states can’t agree, and right now they’re not agreeing, the federal government’s going to have to step in, and just mandate cuts,” he said.

The California proposal was short on details, and was contingent on California’s water agencies getting federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Ron Dungan was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2020 to 2024.