Colorado River Water Users Association

Money from the Inflation Reduction Act has helped save water in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin. President-elect Trump appears poised to take away funding for those programs.

The seven states that share the shrinking river are deeply divided about new rules for its future. They met in Las Vegas for the annual Colorado River Water Users Association, or CRWUA, conference.

The seven states that use the Colorado River are like kids coming home to a family reunion. Those who follow river policy are frustrated with their level of disagreement.

Water managers in the upper Colorado River basin took another step this week toward a more formal water conservation program that they say will benefit the upper basin states.

Representatives from two lower basin states on the Colorado River have said they would finally address something that the upper basin states, including Colorado, have long pressed them to do: Fix the supply/demand imbalance sometimes called the “structural deficit.”

At an annual meeting in Las Vegas, Colorado River policymakers said new rules may be a "messy compromise."

Policymakers say a wet winter has created space for discussions about long-term water management, but they have a diverse set of interests to consider while drawing up new rules.

Policymakers from the seven states that use water from the Colorado River gathered in Las Vegas to discuss its future as climate change shrinks supply.

“We have to think swiftly,” said Crystal Tulley-Cordova, principal hydrologist for the Navajo Nation. “Otherwise, we will continue to be in the situation that we are in, or even in worse circumstances.”

Water agencies from Arizona, Nevada, California and the federal government agreed to a multimillion dollar plan to keep more water in Lake Mead. The deal was signed at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas.