Interior Department Releases Colorado River Water Reduction Plan

The United States Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation released a Final Environmental Impact Statement on Friday detailing water reduction plans for the Colorado River. The proposal arrives after failed negotiations between seven dependent states and ahead of a December 2026 deadline for a new water management framework.

The plan analyzes a potential maximum reduction of 3 million acre-feet annually for the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona, and Nevada, which would total nearly half of their combined allotment. The Bureau of Reclamation clarified that this figure represents the upper limit of analyzed shortages rather than a guaranteed annual requirement.

Reactions to the proposal split along basin lines. Governors of the Upper Basin states—Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming—supported the framework as a short-term management tool. However, Lower Basin leaders protested. Governor Joe Lombardo of Nevada called the reductions unrealistic, while Governor Katie Hobbs of Arizona described some options as draconian, though she noted that implementing the Lower Basin agreement could provide more stability than federal force.

A Record of Decision is expected before December to clarify operations for the next two years.