Negotiators remain at odds over how to share a drought-stricken Colorado River on the eve of the Trump administration’s deadline.
Scott Cameron, a top Interior official who currently serves as acting commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, set a Nov. 11 deadline for states — whose representatives have sparred for nearly two years over how to share the pain of further water cuts — to reach an initial deal on a new long-term operating plan.
With the clock ticking down to that Tuesday deadline and negotiators set to meet Monday, it is unclear if the seven states will reach any kind of agreement, even one that is light on details. That could put the Trump administration in the undesirable position of having to determine how to reduce water use by farmers and population centers across the West.
Under consideration are how to determine how much both the Upper Basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — and the Lower Basin — Arizona, California and New Mexico — will need to cut in their water usage and how long any new agreement will last. In the past, the two sides have separately suggested proposed deals that could last anywhere from 10 to 20 years.
