The Colorado River states are still divided — so much so that they could not reach a broad agreement on how to manage the river by their federal deadline. The Department of the Interior gave seven Western states, including Colorado, until Tuesday to indicate whether they can reach any level of accord on how the water supply for 40 million people should be managed in the future. The current agreement, which has governed how key reservoirs store and release water supplies since 2007, expires Dec. 31. … In a joint statement Tuesday, the seven states and federal officials said they recognize the seriousness of the basin’s challenges as drought and low reservoirs have put pressure on the river’s water supplies. 

Other Colorado River negotiations news:

• CalMatters: No deal on the Colorado River despite Trump administration deadline
• Los Angeles Times: The clock is ticking on the shrinking Colorado River as Western states miss a key deadline
• The New York Times: States that rely on the Colorado River miss deadline to agree on cuts
• E&E News by Politico: Colorado River negotiations blow past deadline
• Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix): State leaders issue bipartisan call to action on Colorado River negotiations
• Arizona Daily Star (Tucson): Arizona governor says feds need to broker Colorado River deal among deadlocked states
• Big Pivots: Blog: The Colorado River is nearly out of time — and excuses