Monday’s historic Colorado River agreement represents a big win for California, which only months ago was embroiled in a bitter feud with Arizona, Nevada and four other Western states over how to dramatically reduce their use of water supplies in the shrinking river. The proposition, which came after months of tense negotiations, would see the three states in the Colorado’s lower basin conserve about 3 million acre-feet of water from the river by 2026 — a 14% reduction across the Southwest that amounts to only about half of what could have been imposed by the federal government had the states not come to an accord. … Though some details have yet to be disclosed, the plan would see the majority of the cuts, about 1.6 million acre-feet, come from California. The remainder would be split between Arizona and Nevada, with the former taking the lion’s share of those losses.

Related articles: 

• Associated Press: 3 Western states say they’ll cut their water use from the Colorado River if the U.S. government pays them $1.2 billion
• CalMatters: Colorado River deal – What does it mean for California?
• JFleck@inkstain: Deadpool Diaries - “Nice river basin ya’ got there….”
• Los Angeles Times: Editorial – Colorado River water deal is a temporary reprieve
• The Guardian: Historic Colorado River deal not enough to stave off long-term crisis, experts say
• New York Times: What the Colorado River Deal Means for California
• The Hill: California, Arizona, Nevada offer landmark drought deal to use less Colorado River water — for now
• Nevada Current: Colorado River states reach an agreement, but not a solution