Biden Administration Proposes Colorado River Water Cuts to Western States

The US Bureau of Reclamation has called on seven western states to cut as much as 30% of their river water allocation to prevent the Colorado River from falling to critically low levels. The Department of the Interior has laid out options for saving the river, including imposing cuts to water allotments according to the water-rights priority system or evenly across the board. The 1,450-mile Colorado River serves 40 million people and generates hydroelectric power for regional markets, and irrigates nearly 6m acres of farmland. California receives the largest share of water from the Colorado River and would be most affected by an overall cut.