Colorado, Western States Face Federal Deadline to Avert Colorado River Showdown

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette

This Tuesday is the deadline set by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the seven states of the Colorado River to develop a framework for an agreement governing the river’s operations.

But that agreement seems just as far away now as it did when Scott Cameron, who was named acting head of the Bureau of Reclamation in October, announced the deadline in June.

Cameron told the Arizona Reconsultation Committee during its June meeting that Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum is prepared to act if the seven states failed to come up with the agreement framework by this week’s deadline.

“Our goal is to parachute a seven-state deal” into an environmental impact statement the agency is developing and as the preferred alternative in March, or possibly earlier – in 2026, Cameron told the Arizona committee.

What’s at issue is the 2007 interim operating guidelines for the river will expire at the end of next year. The bureau wants a plan in place by Oct. 1, 2026.

The federal office and negotiators from the seven states have been working on the river’s future since mid-2023.

The operating guidelines cover how much water the upper and lower basin states can use from the river, and, more importantly, how much those allocations can be cut.

That’s at the heart of the dispute between the upper basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and the lower basin states of California, Arizona, and Nevada.

The goal is to keep high enough water levels in Lake Powell, which serves the upper basin states. Lake Mead is also important in negotiations, as it not only serves the lower basin states but also generates hydropower at the two dams on the lake, Glen Canyon and Hoover.

As of Nov. 10, Lake Powell is 28% full at an elevation of 3,545 feet. That’s down 31 feet from a year ago.

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