US EditionDeadline Arrives Tuesday for Colorado River Agreement Between Nevada, 6 Other States
Seven basin states missed the Nov. 11 deadline to agree on post-2026 Colorado River water management, risking federal intervention amid drought and reservoir declines.
- Nov. 11's federal deadline passed as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation-led talks remained deadlocked among Nevada and six other Colorado River Basin states on Post-2026 Operational Guidelines affecting 40 million people.
- Prolonged drought and depleted reserves have exposed aging Mid-20th-century infrastructure, as the Colorado River Basin now holds about 20% less water than a century ago, undermining resilience.
- In Colorado, storage is limited by depleted banked reserves and risks like landslides at Morrow Reservoir, while Glen Canyon Dam's four 8-foot-wide tubes constrain operations.
- If states cannot produce a plan, the U.S. Department of the Interior indicated it will act, and John Berggren warned lawsuits could take decades to resolve.
- After more than two years of talks, the seven Colorado River Basin states still face unresolved equity and risk questions, with closed-door negotiations leaving which states may face cuts open, possibly next year.
101 Articles
101 Articles
States fail to agree on Colorado River split
Despite a federal deadline of Nov. 11, Arizona and six other states that benefit from Colorado River water left their meeting in Phoenix without reaching a deal about how to divide up the river’s dwindling water supply.
Times of San Diego
eastcountymagazine.orgLess water, more problems – California, 6 states miss key Colorado River deadline
Drought-stricken Lake Mead on the Colorado River in August 2022. (File photo by Christopher Clark/U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. After two fraught years of negotiations amid dire projections for the Colorado River’s reservoirs, California and six other states that rely on the river’s water have yet again failed to reach a deal — despite a federal deadline. “While mor…
Can Arizona maintain its drought response as water and money dry up?
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. CAMP VERDE — In front of Buddy Rocha Jr. stood a group of Arizona’s local and state-level politicians, agency staffers and water experts. Behind the Yavapai-Apache chairman flowed the Verde River. For centuries, he said, his people have depended on the land along …
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