As a Colorado River deadline passes, reservoirs keep declining

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The leaders of seven states announced Friday, one day before a Trump administration deadline, that there is still no deal to share the diminishing waters of the Colorado River.That leaves the Southwest in a quagmire with uncertain repercussions while the river’s depleted reservoirs continue to decline.Former U.S.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said in an interview with The Times that the impasse now appears so intractable that Trump administration officials should take a step back, abandon the current effort and begin all over again.Babbitt said he believes it would be a mistake for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “try to impose a long-term solution” by ordering major water cuts across the Southwest — which would likely set off a lengthy court battle.“We need a fresh start,” Babbitt said.“I believe that in the absence of a unanimous agreement, [the Interior Department] should renew the existing agreements for five years, and then we should start all over.

We should scrap the entire process and invent a new one.” Climate & Environment Negotiators for seven states remain deeply divided over how to cut water use along the Colorado River.The chances of a court battle appear to be growing, with the threat of deep cuts in water deliveries to California and other Western states.Officials for the seven states have tried to boost reservoir levels via voluntary water cutbacks and federal payments to farmers who agree to leave fields dry part of the year.

But after more than two years of trying to hash out new long-term rules for sharing water, they remain deadlocked; the existing rules are set to expire at the end of this year.The states similarly blew past an earlier federal deadline in November.Interior Department officials have not said how they will respond.The agency is considering four options for imposing cutbacks starting next year, as well as the option ...