State negotiator: Colorado River plans must dole out less water
A top Colorado state negotiator said Monday that the Bureau of Reclamation must consider sending less Colorado River water to California, Arizona and Nevada if regulators want to avoid “running so close to the brink of crisis all the time.” The Interior Department and Reclamation are leading negotiations among the seven states that share the drought-stricken waterway, trying to come up with a new long-term operating plan. The states face a November deadline to meet an agreement, but for nearly two years have been at odds over how to divide cuts to the amount of water flowing to the Upper Basin — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico — and the Lower Basin of California, Arizona and Nevada.
Other Colorado River Basin news:
- Utah News Dispatch: Navajo Nation pushes for water rights as Colorado River shrinks
- Audubon: Blog: Proposed project could boost water supplies in Central Arizona
- Arizona’s Family (Phoenix): Sonoran Sky Podcast: Understanding Arizona’s water situation
- Fort Collins Science Center (USGS): Blog: Ecosystem change science in support of wildfire management, water conservation, public land reclamation, and food security
