… In recent weeks the Interior Department has contacted farm districts, cities, tribes and other water users in Arizona, California and Nevada looking to extend Biden administration contracts that paid out nearly $1.4 billion from Democrats’ signature climate law to entities that agreed to fallow fields, tighten conservation measures or otherwise forgo water deliveries. At the same time, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered up a list of projects from the region’s seven governors to address the river’s long-term problems, for which the federal government could be a “potential cost-share partner.” The menu of proposals they delivered a week ago includes 85 projects totaling more than $50 billion — a price tag that far exceeds what Interior currently has in its coffers.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

• The Arizona Republic (Phoenix): Another dry winter will ‘crash’ the Colorado River, experts warn
• KNAU (Flagstaff, Ariz.): About 40 million people use water from the Colorado River. Right?
• KJZZ (Phoenix): New ASU study uses satellites to make more accurate Colorado River water forecasts
• Los Angeles Times: Hoover Dam, challenged by drought, now wears a U.S. flag the size of a football field
• Western Water: Blog: Colorado River Basin faces mixed drought picture
• John Fleck at Inkstain: Blog: Colorado River Basin – new report from my colleagues on the implications of running on empty