States along the Colorado River have officially missed a federally imposed deadline to develop a new water-sharing agreement, and the federal government on Tuesday announced new water allocation reductions, including nearly 25 percent in cuts to Arizona.
The Colorado River basin serves seven states — an Upper Basin of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, and a lower one of Arizona, California and Nevada — and its waters are allocated based on the terms of a century-old agreement from when there was substantially more water in the river.
Meanwhile, the region is facing a 20-years-and-counting drought, the worst in centuries.
Correction: Any earlier version of this file misidentified the level required for a Tier 2 shortage. States along the Colorado River have officially missed a federally imposed deadline to develop a…
thehill.com