Water Rights

The move, by the Colorado River Indian Tribes in Arizona and California would give rights of nature to the water, marking a historic first.

New data from the Bureau of Reclamation puts the river and its reservoirs in formal shortage conditions. Policymakers are stuck on ways to fix that in the years to come.

States that use Colorado River water need to agree on new rules for sharing it by 2026. If they don't, they will likely end up in messy court battles.

Top water negotiators declined to speak at an upcoming conference amid closed-door meetings about the future of the water supply for 40 million people.

The Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada are asking for a fresh look at proposals for sharing the shrinking water supply and changes to Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam.

President Donald Trump froze billions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act that was designed to protect water supplies for cities, farms and tribes.

States that use the Colorado River say they don't want to go to the Supreme Court, but some are quietly preparing for litigation.

Negotiations over the water supply for 40 million people are hinged on how you interpret the words "will not cause," written into the century-old Colorado River Compact.

On the Navajo Nation, officials say about a third of people don't have access to clean water. Back in 2009, Congress authorized a massive infrastructure project designed to address this by bringing water to more than 250,000 people, from the San Juan river. But it's not done and Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren is asking Congress to authorize five more years' work, and increase the budget.

A coalition of environmental groups has proposed a set of new rules for managing the Colorado River amid heated negotiations about how to share the water supply, which is shrinking due to climate changed.