California water agencies that use Colorado River water indicated Wednesday they’d be willing to cut 400,000 acre-feet of water use annually starting next year and running through 2025 — a move a top Upper Basin water official cast as a promising development in the negotiations over the future of the river.

“All in all, it appears to be an encouraging first step,” said Chuck Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission, an interstate agency that manages water in the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.