![\"Colorado](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771038323_17_.jpeg\"\/)
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John Entsminger (from left), JB Hamby, and Tom Buschatzke sit on a panel at the Colorado River Water Users Association annual meeting in Las Vegas on Dec. 14, 2023.<\/p>\n
The monthslong stalemate boils down to a question of which states should have to bear the pain of cutbacks. Upper Basin states argue that they are forced to live with the ebb and flow of Mother Nature and use less water after dry winters leave their reservoirs depleted. The Lower Basin, they say, does not have to deal with that variability because it relies on legally-required deliveries every year from the Upper Basin.<\/p>\n
Their ability to stand firm in that belief rests on a particular interpretation of three words<\/a> within a legal document written in 1922.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re being asked to solve a problem we didn\u2019t create with water we don\u2019t have,\u201d Becky Mitchell, Colorado\u2019s top negotiator, wrote in a statement. \u201cThe Upper Division\u2019s approach is aligned with hydrologic reality and we\u2019re ready to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Forced cutbacks from the federal government would likely be felt deepest<\/a> in Arizona. The state\u2019s water managers are trying to avoid that.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough it all,\u201d Buschatzke wrote, \u201cThese difficult negotiations still reduce to a simple truth: All of those who benefit from the Colorado River\u2019s bounty must share in the responsibility to preserve the river\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this week, a group of Republican congressmen from Arizona wrote a letter<\/a> to the secretary of the Interior asking him to withdraw a draft of federal plans for water cutbacks, arguing that it would \u201cdisproportionately reduce Arizona\u2019s Colorado River allocation while leaving Upper Basin States largely unaffected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Colorado River system functions best when risks, responsibilities, and necessary reductions are shared equitably,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n Gene Shawcroft, Utah\u2019s top negotiator, said Upper Basin leaders would be shifting their focus to a short-term deal<\/a> that is focused on protecting reservoirs from dropping dangerously low amid one of the driest winters in decades<\/a>. In a call with reporters, he said they are not withdrawing from talks, but instead dealing with an immediate crisis.<\/p>\n A pontoon boat is tied up at the shore of a recently-revealed beach in one of Lake Powell’s side canyons on April 10, 2023. Water levels at the nation’s second-largest reservoir threaten to drop dangerously low as soon as this summer without new management plans. <\/p>\n Also on Friday, federal forecasters with the Bureau of Reclamation presented dire projections for water levels at Lake Powell, which show how limited snowfall this winter will create problems at the nation\u2019s second-largest reservoir this summer. Continued dry conditions could send water levels too low to generate hydropower inside Glen Canyon Dam as soon as this July<\/a>. More optimistic projections only delay that outcome by a few months, but still forecast the potential shutdown of hydroelectric turbines as soon as December 2026.<\/p>\n State leaders said they would stay at the negotiating table going forward, and said the desire to stay out of court would help fuel new rounds of talks.<\/p>\n![\"Pontoon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771038324_529_.jpeg\"\/)
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