Federal Government Finalizes Colorado River Water-Sharing Plan, Mitigating Drastic Cuts for Arizona
The U.S. Department of the Interior has finalized new rules for managing the Colorado River through 2028, adopting a water-sharing plan developed by Arizona, California, and Nevada. This decision averts a worst-case scenario that could have imposed severe water cuts on Arizona, potentially devastating its economy. Under the new agreement, the Lower Basin states will collectively reduce water use by 1.25 million acre-feet annually for the next two years. Arizona will absorb 760,000 acre-feet of this reduction, California 440,000, and Nevada 50,000. This is a significantly smaller reduction for Arizona than the 77% cut to the Central Arizona Project's water supply that federal officials had previously considered. Additionally, the plan requires Lower Basin states to voluntarily conserve at least 700,000 additional acre-feet over the next two years, contributing to a total conservation effort of over 3.2 million acre-feet in Lake Mead. Upper Basin states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—will not face m... 
