By Daniel Trotta
Feb 14 (Reuters) – Seven states in the Western U.S. said on Friday they will miss Saturday’s deadline to present a plan to the federal government on how to share water from the overused Colorado River, raising the chances the federal government may need to intervene.
The terms of any deal will be crucial to the drinking water supply for 40 million people, the agricultural industry and the economies of major cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. The current pact expires at the end of this year.
“The federal deadline for a consensus agreement on managing the Colorado River after 2026 is passing for a second time without resolution,” the governors of California, Arizona and Nevada said in a joint statement.
Those three states comprise the so-called Lower Basin and have been at odds with the four states of the Upper Basin – Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.
Each side seeks more favorable access to the river, which has been depleted for decades by rapid growth, drought and climate change. Both sides said they remained committed to reaching a deal.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which plays a major role in managing the river, had previously set a November 11 deadline for the states to produce a broad framework for an agreement. That deadline passed without consequence. A second deadline calling for a detailed proposal was set for February 14, but the states admitted a day ahead of time they could not reach a deal.
The Lower Basin states said Arizona offered to reduce its Colorado River allocation by 27%, California by 10%, and Nevada by nearly 17%.
For their part, the Upper Basin states said they were preparing for cuts that amounted to 40% of the proven water rights. But those states have not agreed to mandatory cuts.
“Meanwhile, our downstream neighbors are seeking to secure water from the UDS (Upper Division States) that simply does not exist,” the negotiators for Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico said in a statement.
Without a long-term agreement, the federal government will be pressured to broker a deal – or impose one – before the end of 2026, when the core rules that manage the major reservoirs of Lake Powell and Lake Mead expire.
Current negotiations take place at a time of paltry snowpack in the mountains, with Lake Mead and Lake Powell barely one-third full.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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