Nevada Sues Federal Government Over Colorado River Water Cuts

The State of Nevada filed a federal lawsuit in the Nevada U.S. District Court on Monday to block a water management framework issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation. The legal challenge targets a Record of Decision that requires Lower Basin states—Nevada, California, and Arizona—to absorb a total reduction of 2.5 million acre-feet of water usage over the next two years. Nevada argues the plan unfairly burdens the Lower Basin while imposing zero mandatory reductions on Upper Basin states, including Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico.

Nevada officials allege the framework violates the Law of the River, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. The state claims the federal government failed to analyze the socioeconomic and public health impacts on Southern Nevada, where annual water allocations could drop by up to 71 percent—approximately 213,556 acre-feet—between 2029 and 2036. While California and Arizona officials expressed support for the plan's immediate certainty, they also called for greater sacrifices from the Upper Basin.

Simultaneously, the Colorado River Indian Tribes challenged the plan, asserting that the federal process ignored their legal rights. Attorney General Rebecca Loudbear informed the Bureau of Reclamation that the tribes hold water rights to more than 23 percent of Arizona's total Colorado River allocation. This pushback aligns with broader reports that Indigenous nations, who hold rights to roughly one-third of the river's water, remain largely excluded from conservation negotiations.