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Seven Western states that depend on the Colorado River are ending the year at an impasse in negotiations over the writing of new rules for dealing with chronic water shortages.

Representatives of California and other states who attended an annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas last week said they remain deadlocked in their talks on long-term plans for reducing water use to prevent the river’s reservoirs from reaching critically low levels.

The country’s biggest water supplier is set to vote tomorrow on whether to fund one of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s top priorities on water — and he’s not leaving the result up to chance.

Newsom and his top aides are leaning on board members and top staff at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to approve additional funding to plan and permit the Delta Conveyance Project, a version of which has been floating around — first as a canal, then a pair of tunnels — for more than half a century.