Lower Basin States Closer to Agreement on Colorado River

After a year of contentious negotiations, Western states dependent on the river’s water supply are nearing a deal that would reduce water use significantly over the next three years.

2 minute read

May 22, 2023, 10:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


View of Colorado River winding through canyon in red rock cliffs against lightly cloudy blue sky

Birton R. Gilbert / Colorado River

California, Arizona, and Nevada are close to reaching a deal to protect the Colorado River’s threatened water supply. According to an article by Joshua Partlow in The Washington Post, the Lower Basin states have so far been reluctant to submit feedback on the federal government’s proposed alternatives, claiming they can come to an agreement of their own. 

As Partlow explains, “The consensus emerging among these states and the Biden administration aims to conserve about 13 percent of their allocation of river water over the next three years and protect the nation’s largest reservoirs, which provide drinking water and hydropower for tens of millions of people.”

The proposed deal would cut back roughly 3 million acre-feet of water in the next three years in exchange for federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. Despite contentious negotiations between California and Arizona, the river’s top users, over the past year, “these states now appear more united than ever and are closing their differences with the federal government, even as significant issues remain unresolved.”

After a historically wet winter, the river’s reservoirs are in less dire condition than they were last year, but officials from Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) want to see more binding commitments to conservation from Lower Basin states. Becky Mitchell, Colorado’s representative in the negotiations, insists that the states need to reevaluate their relationship with the river, saying that “the enemy is not any organization, agency or part of the basin.” Rather, “The enemy is the old way.”

More background on the Colorado River crisis:

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 in The Washington Post

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Flat modern glass office tower with "County of Santa Clara" sign.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing

The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

May 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

May 23 - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

May 23 - The Daily Yonder