The Endless Feud
2026
Slower and slower, lower and lower, the Colorado River continues to flow.
And the reckless impasse over how much river water individual states can claim drags on as we move deeper into another scorching summer.
Negotiators for the seven states that draw water from the Colorado River are still waiting for the axe to fall, for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to reveal details of its expected mandate on reducing water usage.
Lower Basin States and Upper Basin States are each looking for a leg up with the feds, and Lower Basin States now think they’ve got it.
Tom Buschatzke is Arizona’s chief negotiator. He recently told Reuters…
“We’ve had some very positive discussions with Reclamation about Reclamation adopting largely the Lower Basin proposal in a way that would be acceptable to us. I think we’re getting close to delivering that with Reclamation.”
Pollyanna or pragmatist? Who knows?
What we do know…
A twenty year stopgap plan is expiring. A federal mandate on how to allocate dangerously dwindling supplies of Colorado River water is expected in August.
