LAS VEGAS — The Trump administration is turning up the pressure on Western states to cut a deal to shrink their water use as the drought-stricken Colorado River careens towards crisis.
The Interior Department’s top water official on Wednesday urged the seven states that share the Colorado River to move off their hard negotiating positions and begin serious talks — or face a federal intervention that would almost certainly trigger a Supreme Court fight.
“Give your commissioners room to negotiate and room to compromise — and if you can’t do that, send us representatives that have the authority to best serve your interests, but are willing to break through the barriers to get to a consensus deal,” assistant Interior Secretary Andrea Travnicek said at the waterway’s annual conference taking place at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
“The time for serious negotiations is now,” she said.
