Negotiators for the seven states arguing over diminished Colorado River water are discussing an option they hope will end their deadlock, one that Arizona officials say would focus less on who gets what and more on what the river can realistically provide. They’re calling it the “supply-driven” solution, Arizona Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said, and it links the required water deliveries out of Glen Canyon Dam to what might naturally be flowing downstream at Lees Ferry if the dam weren’t there. The Rocky Mountain states upstream from there would have to let that amount pass, and the Southwestern states would have to live within its limits. It’s intended as a fair way of adapting — and shrinking — the region’s use of a river whose flow was once thought to exceed 15 million acre-feet of water a year but, in the last 25 years, has averaged 12.4 million.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

• KAWC (Yuma, Ariz.): Gov. Hobbs emphasizes Arizona leadership on Colorado River agreement​
• Arizona Republic (Phoenix): As Colorado River talks continue, Trump taps former CAP boss to lead Reclamation Bureau​
• John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: The Colorado River “psst psst” scheme emerges into public view: the “Supply Driven” concept
• Bureau of Reclamation: News release: Reclamation completes recoating of outlet tubes at Glen Canyon Dam ahead of schedule