US EditionColumn: Sharing Risk on the Colorado River
- In June 2025, representatives from the seven Colorado River Basin states convened in Las Vegas to develop a water-sharing agreement to replace the existing rules that are set to lapse by the close of 2026.
- The plan is needed because drought and climate change have shrunk the river's flow, mountain snowpack is low, and the major reservoirs are two-thirds empty, threatening water for 40 million people.
- Upper Basin states argue they should not face mandatory cuts as they have not used their full legal allotment, while Lower Basin states say all must reduce usage in dry years to share water shortages.
- California negotiator JB Hamby noted that since December, the states have increased both the frequency and quality of their meetings, fostering a clear commitment to accelerating progress on negotiations throughout this year.
- Experts warn failure to reach consensus risks the Bureau of Reclamation imposing a plan and costly litigation that would create uncertainty, so stakeholders urge a timely agreement for a sustainable, supply-driven future.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Colorado River states need to come up with water plan soon: ‘We are just about out of time’
Commissioners from the seven states in the Colorado River Basin must create a plan that will govern how those states divvy up the river’s water after the current guidelines expire at the end of 2026.
Big Pivots: Sharing risk on the Colorado River
Even-steven. That was the intent of delegates from the seven basin states in 1922 when they met near Santa Fe to forge a compact governing the Colorado River. But what exactly did they agree upon? That has become a sticking point in 2025 as states have squared off about rules governing the river in the drought-afflicted and climate-changed 21st century. The negotiations between the states, according to many accounts, have been fraught with tensi…
Column: Sharing risk on the Colorado River
Even-steven. That was the intent of delegates from the seven basin states in 1922 when they met near Santa Fe to forge a compact governing the Colorado River. But what exactly did they agree upon? That has become a sticking point in 2025 as states have squared off about rules governing the river in the drought-afflicted and climate-changed 21st century. The negotiations between the states, according to many accounts, have been fraught with tensi…
Denver Post
Colorado River states still have no unified long-term management plan and ‘are just about out of time,’ experts warn
Concerningly low amounts of water are flowing from Rocky Mountain snowpack this spring, a summer of drought looms across swaths of the West, and the negotiators tasked with devising a sustainable long-term water plan for the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River are running out of time. Commissioners from the seven states in the Colorado River Basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, California and Nevada — must create a …
Colorado drought intensifies in the west, improvements for the plains
Colorado drought intensifies in the west, improvements for the plains kcpnews2 Sat, 05/31/2025 - 14:08 Image (Kiowa County Press) Colorado’s drought conditions worsened last week in the western half of the state, while a modest increase in land area classified as free of drought stress centered on the eastern plains. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report, released Thursday by the National Drought Mitigation Center and valid for May 27, shows …
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