California, Arizona and Nevada announce new water-saving plan for dwindling Colorado River

Source: Los Angeles Times

With the Colorado River’s giant reservoirs declining toward critically low levels, negotiators for California, Arizona and Nevada announced a new water-saving plan for the next two years.

Representatives of the three states said in a written statement late Friday that their plan aims to “stabilize the Colorado River through 2028.” It will require larger cuts in water use than they had offered previously in talks with other states and the federal government.

“We’re putting forward additional measurable water contributions for the system,” said JB Hamby, the chairman of California’s Colorado River Board. “Without that, the system will continue to decline.”

The three states’ negotiators said their plan identifies more than 3.2 million acre-feet of water cutbacks through 2028, building on their previous proposal.

Representatives of the three states negotiated the short-term deal after they deadlocked in talks with four other states on a long-term plan for sharing the river’s diminishing water.

Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir near Las Vegas, is now 31% full.

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-05-02/california-new-colorado-river-plan