{"id":204661,"date":"2026-03-04T23:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204661\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:51:09","slug":"california-urges-trump-administration-to-rethink-colorado-river-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/204661\/","title":{"rendered":"California urges Trump administration to rethink Colorado River plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Leaders of California, Arizona and Nevada are criticizing the Trump administration\u2019s proposals for water cutbacks along the Colorado River, urging it to take a different approach and avoid a court battle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The three downstream states said in letters to the Interior Department this week that the agency\u2019s preliminary outline of five options for cuts ignores the foundational \u201cLaw of the River<\/a>\u201d that has underpinned how seven western states operate for more than a century. <\/p>\n

Federal officials have so far failed to examine whether their options comply with the 1922 Colorado River Compact, and this is \u201ca fundamental deficiency that must be corrected,\u201d JB Hamby, California\u2019s lead negotiator, wrote in a letter<\/a> to the Trump administration. <\/p>\n

That agreement split the water among four upstream states \u2014 Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico \u2014 and those downstream \u2014 Nevada, Arizona and California.<\/p>\n

It required the water released from Upper Basin dams for Nevada, Arizona and California to average at least 7.5 million acre-feet over any decade, plus an allotment for Mexico \u2014 a legal \u201ctripwire<\/a>\u201d that some state officials argue could soon be breached, clearing the way for a lawsuit claiming violation of the compact.<\/p>\n

The Colorado River provides water for farms, cities and tribal communities from the Rocky Mountains to northern Mexico. The 1922 agreement promised more water than the river could provide, and now climate change is contributing to dry conditions<\/a> and shrinking the river flow<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Monday was the deadline for water agencies and individuals to submit comments to the Trump administration on its options<\/a> for dealing with severe water shortages. The current rules expire in late 2026.<\/p>\n

Indigenous leaders, academic researchers and environmental advocates all sent in comments. <\/p>\n

Officials from California, Arizona and Nevada said the Trump administration\u2019s current five options would put the burden of cuts solely on them while sparing the Upper Basin states, and even allowing them to use more water. <\/p>\n

If the Upper Basin states fail to deliver the required water, the Lower Basin states could make a \u201ccompact call\u201d by suing, top Arizona water official Tom Buschatzke said in his letter<\/a> to the Trump administration. If that happens, he said, a court will enforce the agreement\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no legal outcome where reductions \u2026 are imposed almost entirely on the Lower Basin,\u201d Buschatzke said. Each of the five proposed federal options, he said, wrongly \u201crequires the Lower Basin states to accept disproportionate and inequitable reductions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letters give a hint of what states would argue in court if the Trump administration imposes cuts they disagree with. The legal battle could take years and be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Leaders of the Upper Basin states also are raising objections<\/a>, saying the Interior Department\u2019s current options rely on flawed assumptions, fail to impose large enough cuts on the Lower Basin and go beyond the federal government\u2019s authority. They argue officials should be counting not only the water states take from the river but also the water that evaporates<\/a> from reservoirs and along the river.<\/p>\n

Colorado water officials Rebecca Mitchell and Lauren Ris wrote<\/a> that all the federal options would \u201cprioritize\u201d water use in the Lower Basin \u201cat the expense\u201d of the Upper Basin. This would violate the \u201cequitable division of the river\u201d under the 1922 compact, they said.<\/p>\n

Ris called for<\/a> a federal framework \u201cthat recognizes the hydrologic reality of a shrinking river.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation\u2019s initial options<\/a> would cut water for Arizona between 33% and 69%, and Nevada between 24% and 67%. Under some options, California could see reductions of between 29% and 33%.<\/p>\n

Such cuts would likely prompt Arizona cities to drill more wells<\/a> and pump more groundwater, which is declining in many areas<\/a>. California farmers, who already have been leaving some fields dry<\/a> part of the year in exchange for federal funds, are under pressure to conserve more.<\/p>\n

One key complaint by California, Arizona and Nevada centers on Glen Canyon Dam<\/a>, the reservoir that forms Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border. The three states have urged the federal government to fix or overhaul the dam to address design flaws that create problems when the reservoir is low<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If Lake Powell\u2019s level declines to a point that water can only pass through four 8-foot-wide bypass tubes, that would limit how much can reach California, Arizona and Nevada.<\/p>\n

Nevada water officials John Entsminger and Eric Witkoski wrote<\/a> that trying to prop up water levels at Glen Canyon Dam rather than repairing it is \u201cshortsighted\u201d and would harm the three states by \u201cslashing the water available to our farmers, communities, and economies.\u201d<\/p>\n

They called for \u201csome combination of straight-forward engineering fixes, moving water to Lake Powell from upstream reservoirs,\u201d and imposing cuts in the Upper Basin states.<\/p>\n

Another concern raised by California officials is how cutbacks would affect the Salton Sea. Water running off farmlands flows into the saline lake, and less water would shrink the lake faster, affecting wildlife<\/a> and nearby communities where windblown dust<\/a> brings high asthma rates and other health problems.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s Imperial Irrigation District, which uses the single largest share<\/a> of Colorado River water, said the federal government needs to examine how water cuts would affect the Salton Sea. IID General Manager Jamie Asbury said<\/a> not considering the effects on the Salton Sea is a \u201cfundamental flaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives of the seven states have been unable to agree<\/a> on a plan for water cuts, but negotiations are continuing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leaders of California, Arizona and Nevada are criticizing the Trump administration\u2019s proposals for water cutbacks along the Colorado…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1956,7,9,8,94696,13396,1962,94698,3482,16714,8572,16425,10359,7827,1695,94697,646],"class_list":["post-204661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-arizona","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-colorado-river-plan","tag-cut","tag-lake-powell","tag-lower-basin-state","tag-nevada","tag-option","tag-reservoir","tag-river","tag-salton-sea","tag-state-official","tag-trump-administration","tag-upper-basin-dam","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}