If any of the Colorado River management options were used to manage this year’s sub-par snowpack, Arizona, California and Nevada would be forced to slash 17% to 43% of their legal share. Coloradans would be focused on voluntary conservation.
Colorado River states have weeks remaining to resolve deep divides over how to manage the river for years to come, officials at a water conference in southwestern Colorado said Friday.
The people who will determine the future of the Colorado River said they do not anticipate major changes to their negotiation process as a result of former president Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Multiple officials from states that use the Colorado River pointed to historical precedent and said that similar negotiations in the past were largely unaffected by turnover in presidential administrations. Historically, state leaders have written the particulars of river management rules, and the federal Bureau of Reclamation implements the states’ ideas.
