{"id":706,"date":"2026-05-15T10:30:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=706"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:30:23","slug":"trump-administration-readying-a-plan-to-impose-colorado-river-water-cuts-on-western-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=706","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration readying a plan to impose Colorado River water cuts on Western states"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

After months of pressing Western states to come to their own agreement, the Trump administration told their leaders it\u2019s drawing up a 10-year plan for dealing with water shortages on the Colorado River.<\/p>\n

Read more After public outcry, Orange County halts herbicide spraying in creeks<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/u><\/p>\n

News of the federal government\u2019s preliminary plan surfaced Wednesday during a meeting<\/u> in Phoenix. Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said federal officials informed state water managers they are developing a \u201c10-year framework\u201d with specific rules requiring water reductions that would be reassessed every two years.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s plan would allow for mandatory cutbacks of up to 3 million acre-feet per year in the three states \u2014 as much as 40% of their combined allotments.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s nearly as much as all the water that flowed from 19 million people\u2019s taps across Southern California last year.<\/p>\n

Buschatzke called such large mandatory cuts a sobering possibility for Arizona.<\/p>\n

The offer from California, Arizona and Nevada this month was a water-saving proposal<\/u> for the next two years. It would help the low levels of Lake Mead, the country\u2019s largest reservoir.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Read more Top takeaways from final governor\u2019s debate: Knives out for Becerra<\/a><\/p>\n

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declined to comment on the federal proposal because it hasn\u2019t been made public.<\/p>\n

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<\/u> in the Rocky Mountains.<\/p>\n

In the arcane language of federal environmental review, Peter Soeth, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Reclamation, said the agency has \u201cidentified preliminary elements of a preferred alternative\u201d in its review of options, and has \u201cinitiated consultations\u201d with states, tribes and Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the risk and uncertainty,\u201d Soeth said, the approach is \u201cdesigned to provide stability while allowing flexibility\u201d to incorporate any additional recommendations the states agree on.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Reclamation has said<\/u> it will announce its decision sometime in the summer.<\/p>\n

Read more A former Becerra aide pleaded guilty in a fraud case. I still have questions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The White House has told Western states it’s working on a 10-year plan for the overtapped Colorado River that will allow for reassessing cutbacks every two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump administration readying a plan to impose Colorado River water cuts on Western states - California Relocation Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=706\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump administration readying a plan to impose Colorado River water cuts on Western states - California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The White House has told Western states it's working on a 10-year plan for the overtapped Colorado River that will allow for reassessing cutbacks every two years.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=706\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T10:30:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b85b48ca4c2015dd056e0e9c18912121\"},\"headline\":\"Trump administration readying a plan to impose Colorado River water cuts on Western states\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T10:30:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706\"},\"wordCount\":458,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a4b15b2fd8b7feb37292da4c7fd46a6e-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Climate\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706\",\"name\":\"Trump administration readying a plan to impose Colorado River water cuts on Western states - California Relocation Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a4b15b2fd8b7feb37292da4c7fd46a6e-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T10:30:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/?p=706#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a4b15b2fd8b7feb37292da4c7fd46a6e-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/california-relocation-journal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a4b15b2fd8b7feb37292da4c7fd46a6e-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"An aerial view of Lake Mead, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Nevada. 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