States miss deadline in talks on Colorado River

Negotiators on water sharing note progress, but lawmaker criticizes 'upstream neighbors'

- By Ian James

THE COLORADO, seen between Arizona and California, has been shrinking.

(BRIAN VAN DER BRUG Los Angeles Times)

Negotiators for seven Western states said they are making progress in ongoing talks over how to share the diminishing waters of the Colorado River, but they provided no specifics.

A deadline set by the Trump administration came and went Tuesday without any region-wide agreement on water cutbacks.

The Trump administration gave the states’ negotiators a Nov. 11 deadline to come up with initial terms of a plan to prevent the river's giant reservoirs from declining to dangerously low levels.

Negotiators for the states and the federal Interior Department said in a joint statement that they “recognize the serious and ongoing challenges facing the Colorado River,” and that “prolonged drought and low reservoir conditions have placed extraordinary pressure on this critical water resource.

"While more work needs to be done, collective progress has been made that warrants continued efforts to define and approve details for a finalized agreement,” they said.

The talks were held Monday and Tuesday at an undisclosed location. Participants in the negotiations said they plan additional talks in the coming weeks.