Water Rights

Pressure to reach a deal is building. Forecasts for the water supply from the Colorado River continue to grow worse as snowpack lags far behind normal across the West. And negotiators from the basins have said there are "sticking points" that remain in the negotiations in recent weeks that even marathon talks have failed to resolve.

Hundreds of New Mexicans rallied and marched up the steps towards the Roundhouse Tuesday on the opening day of the legislative session as part of a mass mobilization by Youth United for Climate Crisis Action

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.