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🇺🇸 United States /Environment & Climate

Colorado River water cuts announced for California, Nevada, Arizona

From CBS News · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency New plan
  • Federal officials announced significant water cuts for California, Nevada, and Arizona from the Colorado River for the next two years.
  • Arizona will face the largest reductions, while upstream states are currently exempt, and Mexico will also reduce its intake.
  • The cuts aim to stabilize water supply amid a 26-year drought and depleted reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell, with new long-term sharing rules yet to be agreed upon.

Federal officials have imposed drastic water cuts on California, Nevada, and Arizona, mandating a reduction of 1.25 million acre-feet annually from the Colorado River over the next two years. Arizona will bear the brunt of these cuts, while upstream states like Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico are exempt for now. Mexico will also reduce its water intake by 250,000 acre-feet under a treaty.

We've been in this 26-year prolonged drought period. We continue to see a prolonged drought in our future. So continuing to work together as a whole within the basin is going to be extremely important.

— Andrea TravnicekThe Interior Department's assistant secretary for water and science on the ongoing drought and the need for basin-wide cooperation.

These measures come as the Western United States grapples with a prolonged 26-year drought, which has severely depleted the country's two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Their combined storage is at its lowest in nearly seven decades. The situation is exacerbated by climate change and years of overuse, threatening water supplies for an estimated 35 to 40 million people.

For 2027 and 2028, the reductions that are now memorialized here will provide substantial stability for folks. We'll continue to negotiate and figure out how we're going to operate over a longer-term period, which is what we all want.

— Tom BuschatzkeArizona Department of Water Resources director expressing thanks for collaboration and the need for long-term solutions.

Negotiators expressed a mix of relief and concern. "We'll continue to negotiate and figure out how we're going to operate over a longer-term period, which is what we all want," said Tom Buschatzke, Arizona Department of Water Resources director, thanking California and Nevada for their cooperation. JB Hamby, California's chief Colorado River negotiator, described the plan as "a bridge, not a permanent solution," providing "some badly needed near-term certainty at a moment of extraordinary risk."

a bridge, not a permanent solution.

— JB HambyCalifornia's chief Colorado River negotiator describing the newly announced water cut plan.

The current rules for water allocation from the Colorado River are set to expire in October, and the seven states that rely on it have yet to reach a consensus on long-term sharing. The severity of the drought was highlighted by last winter's record-low snowpack in the Colorado River Basin, further straining farmers, industries, wildlife, and hydropower production.

some badly needed near-term certainty at a moment of extraordinary risk

— JB HambyCalifornia's chief Colorado River negotiator on the impact of the water cut announcement.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CBS News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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