States sue over Colorado River plan

This is a big, hard problem.

Arizona is joining a fight against the Trump administration’s 10-year plan for managing the Colorado River that could slash the state’s share of water…

Nevada filed a lawsuit in late August against several federal agencies, arguing that their plan places a heavier burden on the Lower Basin states. The amount of water in the Colorado River is dwindling because of climate change, which is reducing the amount of snow and runoff that fills reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell, and mid-20th century agreements that promised water users more water than actually exists. Because the seven states that rely on the Colorado River couldn’t reach an agreement on how to manage the water, the federal (government) issued a plan intended to better balance the amount of water in the river with the amount withdrawn. - High Country News