Arizona officials have a blunt message to other states in the protracted fight over the Colorado River: Give up more water or we’re going to take it from you.
More than two years of negotiations between the seven states that share the drought-stricken Colorado River — and countless meetings, including Interior Department officials waving the threat of federal intervention — have failed to produce a deal about how to share the waterway, including who must use less of it.
With less than two weeks before a last-ditch federal deadline on Feb. 14, the states are still attempting to come up with at least a short-term, five-year agreement.
But in a public meeting Monday, Arizona officials — whose state is at risk for significant cuts under several proposals put forth by the Bureau of Reclamation — flashed their trump card.
