Feds press states to OK terms for Colorado River

Negotiators for seven Western states are under mounting pressure to reach an agreement outlining how they plan to share the Colorado River’s dwindling water.

- BY IAN JAMES

REBECCA NOBLE Getty Images LAKE POWELL, a critical Colorado River reservoir, is photographed at a mere third of its capacity in July.

The Trump administration gave the states a Tuesday deadline to agree on the initial terms of a plan for cutting water use to prevent the river’s reservoirs from declining to dangerously low levels.

Because California uses more Colorado River water than any other state, it will play a central role in any deal to take less from the river.

“California is committed to being constructive at the table, advancing ideas and solutions to be able to get us to sustainability and avoid conflict,” said J.B. Hamby, California's Colorado River commissioner. “What it takes now is folks to be able to roll up their sleeves and make tough decisions and compromises.”

Representatives of the seven states where cities and farms depend on the river have been meeting regularly over the last two years trying to come up with a plan for addressing water shortages after 2026, when the current rules expire.

Persistent disagreements have pitted the three states of the river's lower basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — against the four upper-basin states — Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico. They disagree not only on whose water should be cut, and how much, but also over how much water should be released from Lake Powell, a key reservoir upstream from the Grand Canyon.

Officials representing the states and the federal government are scheduled to hold another round of talks Monday and Tuesday. As with other negotiating sessions, where they are meeting is kept secret.