Water deadlock spirals downward

Supplies to California and other states are at risk as Colorado River negotiations stall.

- BY IAN JAMES

KAYLA BARTKOWSKI Los Angeles Times

THE COLORADO River, seen near Blythe, Calif., in December, provides water for about 35 million people.

With the leaders of seven states deadlocked over the Colorado River's deepening crisis, negotiations increasingly seem likely to fail - which could lead the federal government to impose unilateral cuts and spark lawsuits that would bring a complex court battle.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has urged negotiators for the states to reach a deal by Saturday, but substantial disagreements remain. A failure to reach a consensus could result in cuts in water deliveries to California by as much as a third, and by perhaps twice that for Arizona and Nevada — much larger reductions than the states have offered as part of the negotiations.

"All seven states know that if we're unable to achieve an agreement, it would likely fall to the courts, and that would be a lengthy and uncertain process," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in an interview.

"I'm confident that Colorado would prevail based on the merits," Polis said, but a court fight is "something that I don't think any state desires."

The Colorado River provides water for about 35 million people and 5 million acres of farmland, from the Rocky Mountains to northern Mexico. The water was originally divided among the states in 1922 under an agreement called the Colorado River Compact.

That agreement over-promised what the river could provide. And in the last quarter-century, relentless drought intensified by climate change has sapped the river's flow and left its giant reservoirs severely depleted.

The three states of the Lower Basin — California, Arizona and Nevada — are at odds with the four Upper Basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.

In a meeting late last month, Arizona officials seemed to be anticipating failure.