Water in the Colorado River is dwindling to levels that haven’t been seen in decades, and the seven states whose residents and farmers depend on the river can’t agree on a fair way to divide up what’s left.
Negotiations are going nowhere despite more than six months of ongoing talks, plus cajoling by the Trump administration, which twice gathered governors in hopes of a breakthrough that never came.
States are already sniping at aspects of a water-use plan the federal Bureau of Reclamation is set to unveil this summer and impose later this year, and they’re threatening to sue each other over water deliveries, raising the prospects of prolonged legal battles just as Western states face demands to sharply reduce water use.
The river’s system of reservoirs and canals was designed for the climate and population of a century ago.
It has strained to adapt to a declining water supply and enormous growth in communities in the river basin, despite improvements in efficiency that mean even booming cities are using less water than in the past.
Water rights that may date back to the arrival of European settlers also complicate matters. And a year of extreme drought is making it even harder to decide how much each state can draw from the Colorado. It is not for lack of effort.
“We have invested time, effort and money in trying to facilitate a multistate agreement,” Scott Cameron, the acting commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, said in an interview this month, moments after signing a deal that could one day augment the basin’s supply using desalinated water from a plant in Carlsbad, Calif.
But a day later, Mr. Cameron told a conference of water experts in Boulder, Colo. , that states have repeatedly rejected proposals for compromise.
He said he doesn’t expect any state to be pleased with the measures the federal government is expected to take to delay or prevent reservoirs from dropping to critical lows in the short term. A Lifeline for the West The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico.
They rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources. Lower Basin states depend on major water infrastructure to divert and store Colorado A Lifeline for the West The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico.
They rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources. Lower Basin states depend on major water infrastructure to divert and store Colorado A Lifeline for the West The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico.
They rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources. Lower Basin states depend on major water infrastructure to divert and store Colorado A Lifeline for the West The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico.
They rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources. Colorado River flows. A Lifeline for the West The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico.
They rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources. Colorado River flows. A Lifeline for the West The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico.
They rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources. Lower Basin states depend on major water infrastructure to divert and store Colorado River flows.
A Lifeline for the West The Colorado River system stretches across seven states and Mexico. They rely on a century’s worth of laws to determine who gets priority for increasingly limited water resources.
Lower Basin states depend on major water infrastructure to divert and store Colorado River flows. Sources: U. S.
Bureau of Reclamation, Arizona Department of Water Resources, California Department of Water Resources Mira Rojanasakul/The New York Times We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber. Log in. Want all of The Times. Subscribe.