After months of stalemate, glimmers of hope have emerged for consensus on a new plan to manage the shrinking Colorado River. Negotiators from the seven river basin states said in a series of meetings in recent weeks that they were discussing a plan rooted in a concept that breaks from decades of management practice. Rather than basing water releases on reservoir levels, it would base the amount released from the system’s two major reservoirs on the amount of water flowing in the river. The new concept would be more responsive as river flows become more variable. The comments signal a break in months of stalemate between the Upper Basin states — Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming — and the three Lower Basin states: California, Nevada and Arizona. … The new concept for managing the river reflects an attempt to account for the reality of the shrinking river and will, if adopted, adjust releases from the reservoirs based on the amount of water in the river.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

• Smart Water Magazine: Environmental groups file petition with Reclamation to curb Colorado River water waste
• The Denver Gazette (Colo.): Front Range water providers force hearing over proposed purchase of Colorado River water rights
• Steamboat Pilot & Today (Colo.): For lawmakers, an afternoon float on the Colorado River reignites an age-old question: Who gets access to the state’s streams? 
• Newsweek: Satellite images show how much Lake Mead has shrunk in 25 years
• The Land Desk: Blog: As the Colorado River shrinks, desert towns grow