Groups Voice Concern Over Current State Impasse on Colorado River Management

As the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s most recent deadline for a Colorado River agreement passes, conservation and sportsmen groups — American Rivers, Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited and Western Resource Advocates — issued this joint statement:

We are disappointed that the Colorado River Basin states failed to meet the latest deadline for reaching agreement on a Colorado River management framework. We encourage continued federal leadership to safeguard the river and all who depend on it.

We are increasingly concerned that, after more than two years of negotiations, multiple deadlines and extensive public engagement, the basin states have still not reached agreement on a Colorado River management framework. With current guidelines set to expire this year, and the February 14 deadline now missed, continued gridlock carries real consequences for the river and those who depend on it.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for post-2026 operations makes clear that the system is operating with little margin for delay. Basin snowpack is at record lows, storage at Lakes Powell and Mead remains precarious, and hotter, drier conditions that present increased wildfire risks, water quality concerns, and water supply restrictions and shortages are now the operating reality.

Failure to reach consensus could lead to litigation that would likely take decades to resolve and delay progress toward the solutions needed at this crucial moment for the Colorado River Basin and its communities. There remains a narrow opportunity for the basin to shape its own future through negotiated, forward-looking solutions, including many of the meaningful tools identified in the Draft EIS. Seizing that opportunity requires coordinated agreement among the states, Tribal Nations and federal government.

The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation hold an important role in encouraging alignment among the basin states, and we support their continued involvement to reach consensus and provide clear direction. Such direction should come through new operating guidelines that move the basin beyond recurring crisis management to: 

• Provide greater predictability.
• Integrate environmental stewardship into overall system reliability.
• Incorporate flexible management strategies.
• Meaningfully include sovereign Tribal Nations and sustain binational cooperation with Mexico. 

Successful implementation of new guidelines will also require sustained investment in proven solutions — large-scale water conservation, infrastructure modernization, watershed and forest health, and broader water-reliability initiatives — to ensure a secure future for Colorado River water.

Conservationists, sportsmen and community partners can advance practical investments and on-the-ground efforts that help guidelines and agreements succeed. The Basin is strongest when there is a commitment to negotiated solutions, and many of us who are not at the negotiating table stand ready to support consensus and implementation.