The Western states that depend on the Colorado River say that they want to manage it sustainably in the face of climate change and ensure a predictable water supply for their residents.
They have diverging approaches to achieving those goals.
On Wednesday, after months of negotiations, the Upper Colorado River Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the Lower Basin states (Arizona, Nevada and California) announced their separate plans for operating the river and its reservoirs after 2026, when current operating guidelines expire. Each basin submitted its plan to the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that manages water projects nationwide.
The Colorado River Compact of 1922 split the seven states that use the river’s water into two basins. The Upper Basin draws its water allocation from the river itself, while the Lower Basin gets theirs from the country’s largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
All seven states tried to come up with a unified post-2026 plan for both basins, but they couldn’t see eye-to-eye, resulting in the separate proposals submitted today.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.