Trump administration readying a plan to impose Colorado River water cuts on Western states

Ian James, Los Angeles Times on May 15, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — After months of pressing Western states to come to their own agreement, the Trump administration told their leaders it’s drawing up a 10-year plan for dealing with water shortages on the Colorado River.

The river is a major water source for Southern California and much of the Southwest, but its largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are severely depleted and their levels continue to drop.

News of the federal government’s preliminary plan surfaced Wednesday during a meeting in Phoenix. Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said federal officials informed state water managers they are developing a “10-year framework” with specific rules requiring water reductions that would be reassessed every two years.

So far, negotiators for California, Arizona and Nevada have offered to use roughly 1.6 million acre-feet less annually over the next two years. But Buschatzke said the Trump administration’s plan would allow for mandatory cutbacks of up to 3 million acre-feet per year in the three states — as much as 40% of their combined allotments.

That’s nearly as much as all the water that flowed from 19 million people’s taps across Southern California last year.

Buschatzke called such large mandatory cuts a sobering possibility for Arizona.

The offer from California, Arizona and Nevada this month was a water-saving proposal for the next two years. It would help the low levels of Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir.

Buschatzke said the idea is that the proposal can govern water sharing for 2027 and 2028. After that there would be new rounds of negotiations to readjust cuts every two years.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declined to comment on the federal proposal because it hasn’t been made public.

The water was divided under a 1922 agreement called the Colorado River Compact, which overpromised what the river could provide. Since 2000, the Colorado has shrunk dramatically as climate change intensifies dry conditions in the Rocky Mountains.

In the arcane language of federal environmental review, Peter Soeth, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Reclamation, said the agency has “identified preliminary elements of a preferred alternative” in its review of options, and has “initiated consultations” with states, tribes and Mexico.

“Given the risk and uncertainty,” Soeth said, the approach is “designed to provide stability while allowing flexibility” to incorporate any additional recommendations the states agree on.

The Bureau of Reclamation has said it will announce its decision sometime in the summer.