The state of Arizona has hired a top-tier law firm as the brawl over the Colorado River looks increasingly likely to head to court as soon as this summer.
The Arizona Department of Water Resources retained Sullivan & Cromwell to handle possible Colorado River litigation, said Christian Slater, a spokesperson for Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs.
The move comes as the seven states that share the West’s most important river remain bitterly divided over how to curtail their water use as climate-change-driven drought and overuse send the river’s reservoirs plunging toward precarious lows. New rules to govern the waterway must be in place by Oct. 1 before the current ones expire.
The states have missed two deadlines for reaching a deal, and the Trump administration is now preparing to craft its own. The record of decision for the federal plan, which the Interior Department is aiming to release in June, is a likely starting gun for lawsuits.
