The federal government's new Colorado River management plan imposes mandatory water cuts only on Arizona, California and Nevada, sparing Utah and the other Upper Basin states from forced reductions that could have driven wholesale water prices higher for Draper residents.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation published its Final Environmental Impact Statement on July 31, laying out a 10-year adaptive framework through 2036 for operating Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Under the preferred alternative, Lower Basin states would absorb cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet per year. For 2027–2028 specifically, that means Arizona would take 760,000 acre-feet in reductions, California 440,000 and Nevada 50,000. Upper Basin states, including Utah, face only a voluntary conservation target of 200,000 acre-feet annually.

That distinction matters locally.

Draper's culinary water system is supplied entirely by the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, which delivered 4,675 acre-feet to the city in 2024 and draws from Colorado River Basin sources including the Provo, Weber and Duchesne rivers. JVWCD serves nearly 775,000 customers across the Salt Lake Valley.

As we reported July 30, Draper's FY2027 budget includes a 4.5% water rate increase tied to rising wholesale costs from JVWCD. The Draper City Council adopted the new rate structure through Ordinance #1723 on June 9. The federal decision does not reverse that hike, but it removes the threat of additional mandatory cuts that could have pushed wholesale costs even higher.

Gov. Spencer Cox called the plan a "short-term roadmap" in a July 31 statement reported by the Salt Lake Tribune. "The durable answer still has to come from seven states in one room, agreeing to terms all of them can live with," Cox said. "Utah is at the table, and we are ready to negotiate the long-term agreement this river and the people who depend on it require."

The framework also lowers the minimum annual release from Lake Powell to 5 million acre-feet, down from the current 6-million-acre-foot floor. Amy Haas, director of the Colorado River Authority of Utah, warned at a July 31 briefing that upstream reservoirs like Flaming Gorge cannot fill the gap indefinitely. "Flaming Gorge is a fairly finite resource, especially given the hydrology that we're seeing," Haas said, adding that releases cannot continue "in perpetuity" without upstream recovery.

Lake Powell stood at just 23% capacity as of July 26, with inflows running at about 15% of normal. The current operating rules expire Sept. 30. A Record of Decision and specific two-year operating guidelines for 2027–2028 are still forthcoming.

Draper residents can weigh in on the city's broader budget at the Truth in Taxation hearing on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m. at Draper City Hall. Final FY2027 budget adoption is scheduled for Aug. 18.