Buy Water as Western Shortages Continue, Attorneys Say (Correct)

Western water scarcity is prompting big law firms in the Colorado River Basin to advise their clients to pursue conservation measures — but also to buy more water.

A projected shortage and first-ever water cuts announced Monday by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation means that cities, industry, and commercial businesses need to prepare for the likelihood the current 21-year megadrought in the region represents a “new normal.”

“Large industrial and municipal water users have very limited ability to reduce their water needs,” said William Caile of Holland & Hart in Denver. “And they can’t ...