Overview
- Federal officials, who briefed state managers Wednesday, are drafting a decade-long framework that resets Colorado River cutbacks every two years.
- The Lower Basin states — Arizona, California, and Nevada — have offered a two-year package to conserve about 3.2 million acre-feet, mixing priority-based reductions with paid, documented savings.
- Reclamation is modeling scenarios that include up to roughly 3 million acre-feet in mandatory annual cuts for the three downstream states, a scale that Arizona’s lead negotiator called alarming.
- Because senior users are served first, central Arizona communities that rely on the Central Arizona Project canal face the steepest losses, which could strain supplies for cities, farms, tribes, and industry around Phoenix and Tucson.
- The Bureau says it has a preliminary preferred approach, has opened consultations with states, tribes, and Mexico, and plans to announce a decision this summer.