Absent a longer-term agreement on how to share a key but dwindling water supply in the U.S. West, Arizona, California and Nevada announced a temporary plan to cut Colorado River water use through 2028 in an effort to prop up reservoirs and prevent power disruptions. The announcement came after what the states described as the driest winter on record, with the Lower Basin states proposing additional short-term reductions while they continue negotiations over a longer-term deal.
Under the proposal, Arizona, California and Nevada said the plan would save up to 1 million acre-feet of Colorado River water through 2028. They said that figure would build on cuts already announced by the three states and Mexico, bringing total proposed savings to 3.2 million acre-feet—an amount the states said is roughly enough water to serve more than 25 million people a year.
Tom Buschatzke, Arizona’s lead negotiator, said the situation requires immediate action and described the winter conditions as creating a “crisis situation.” “We have kind of a crisis situation that this past winter has created,” Buschatzke said, adding, “We need to do everything we can, and that’s what our plan does, to find a short-term fix.”
The plan’s stated goal ties directly to reservoir levels on the Colorado River system. The river supports 40 million people across seven U.S. states, two Mexican states and Native American tribes, and it underpins farming and hydropower. The states’ proposal and related reductions come as both Lake Powell and Lake Mead have been declining over time, and officials warn that if reservoirs fall below certain thresholds, hydropower production can stop and water delivery to downstream users can be disrupted.
While the Lower Basin plan awaits review, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has already laid out an operational response. The Bureau said it will release more water and earlier than usual into Lake Powell, one of the two biggest reservoirs on the river, to keep its hydropower “humming.”
The Lower Basin cutbacks would change how much each state takes from Lake Mead along the border between Nevada and Arizona. Nevada and Arizona would take about one-third less water of what they are entitled to annually, while California would reduce its use by about 13%, despite having the largest and most senior rights to the river’s water.
How those cuts translate to specific impacts across cities, farms and tribes has not been fully worked out, but the proposal contemplates changes by August. In Arizona, the Central Arizona Project manages much of the state’s share delivered through a 336-mile canal system serving 6 million people. The states said that system operates with a priority structure, and farmers, cities, tribes and industry could be affected under any reductions.
The largest portion of the river’s water supports agriculture. That reliance is reflected in the Imperial Irrigation District, which is the largest single user of the river’s water and grows much of the nation’s winter vegetables. In Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District—which supplies water to about 19 million people—relies on the river for about 20% of its supply, and officials said reducing reliance could stave off worse outcomes even as there is still risk. The Lower Basin plan also depends on state and federal funding, and the states said potential measures could include farmers leaving fields dry and shifting away from water-intensive crops such as alfalfa to drought-tolerant options.
The timeline also matters for negotiations beyond the Lower Basin. The proposal would need approval from federal officials and action by state lawmakers. Central to the broader process, some rules governing the water-sharing agreement expire this year, while negotiations have largely broken down among the states, which the AP report said was more than four months since they had any substantive talks. In the Upper Basin, the states have suggested that a mediator is needed.
Becky Mitchell, Colorado’s lead negotiator, said the Lower Basin plan is a “good first step” but “doesn’t do enough to protect the Colorado River System now and into the future.” She said the differences highlighted the “urgent need to come back together with the help of a mediator,” and she added that while the Lower Division states made progress, “more is needed” to protect the river system.
In the meantime, federal officials said they are reviewing the Lower Basin proposal while still emphasizing they are looking for a broader agreement. Recently, Upper Basin states reached agreement on a federal plan to send nearly one-third of the states’ annual water use to Flaming Gorge to protect Lake Powell, and water users with long-standing rights have also started cutting their use earlier than usual, with some allocations reduced to 14% or less.
The overall negotiation challenge is larger than the temporary agreement. The seven states are wrangling over how much each part of the basin should reduce during a drought that has lasted more than two decades—at the same time that reservoir-dependent hydropower and water deliveries remain dependent on how quickly the system stabilizes.