Western governors meet in Washington over Colorado River management

Governors from seven Colorado River Basin states met in Washington to discuss plans and a shared commitment to avoid litigation; a Feb. 14 deadline remains for a new agreement.

Governors from seven Colorado River Basin states met in Washington, D.C., on Friday to discuss management of the Colorado River and efforts to reach a new agreement. Attending governors included leaders from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Arizona. Officials said the talks focused on planned actions, timelines and a shared commitment to avoid litigation as negotiations continue. Key points: - Governors from the seven basin states met in Washington to discuss plans, timelines and a commitment to avoid litigation. - The Colorado River Compact of 1922 governs water allocation between upper and lower basin states, and experts warned the system is approaching a threshold noted in that compact. - Negotiations have been underway for more than two years, a November deadline was missed, and the deadline for a new agreement was pushed to Feb. 14. Summary: The meeting kept multistate negotiations active amid researcher warnings about supply risks and potential economic impacts across the basin. The next scheduled procedural date is the Feb. 14 deadline for a new agreement.