Overview
- Nevada filed a federal lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas seeking to halt the Interior Department’s Record of Decision on Post‑2026 Colorado River operations.
- The Interior's plan requires roughly 1.25 million acre-feet of mandatory cuts for Arizona, California and Nevada for 2027–2028 and ties deeper, decade-long reductions to Lake Powell and Lake Mead levels.
- The complaint argues the agency broke administrative and environmental law by failing to analyze economic harms, consider reasonable alternatives, and adequately respond to public comments under NEPA and the Law of the River.
- State officials say the plan could cut Nevada’s 300,000-acre-foot entitlement by as much as 213,556 acre-feet, a reduction they say would leave Las Vegas with untenably low supplies even after decades of conservation.
- Other Lower Basin actors are weighing legal options and experts warn that prolonged litigation could leave the federal rules in place while reservoirs keep falling and the chance of larger cuts after 2028 remains a central, unresolved risk.