Faced with a ticking clock and the federal government waiting in the wings, seven states relying on the Colorado River must reach a consensus on water management by November 11 or risk intervention.
At a Glance
- The U.S. Interior Department has set a November 11, 2025, deadline for seven states to agree on a long-term water management plan.
- Federal intervention is threatened if the states cannot reach a consensus on how to manage the river’s dwindling resources.
- In the short term, the department has secured 18 new agreements to conserve 321,000 acre-feet of water, which should add five feet to Lake Mead.
- Over 40 million people, 30 Tribal Nations, and a vast agricultural economy depend on the Colorado River.
A Federal Ultimatum on Water
The U.S. Department of the Interior has issued a stark ultimatum to the seven states that depend on the shrinking Colorado River: agree on a collaborative plan to manage the waterway by November 11, or the federal government will impose a solution. The deadline, announced by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday, June 26, 2025, escalates the pressure on the basin states to overcome their divisions as they negotiate new operating rules for the river post-2026.
“Failure is not an option,” Zinke said in a statement. “The Interior Department is committed to using every tool and resource at our disposal to protect the Colorado River System… But if the states cannot agree on a path forward, I will act to protect the system.” The river supports more than 40 million people across the West.
Short-Term Conservation Deals Secured
The announcement of the deadline came as the Interior Department also revealed a new series of successful short-term conservation agreements. According to the Department’s press release, 18 new deals with water entitlement holders in Arizona and California will conserve 321,000 acre-feet of water through 2026.
This effort, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to raise the water level in the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, by approximately five feet. “These new agreements build on our established and successful partnerships throughout the Basin to advance our collective conservation goals,” said Acting Deputy Interior Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis.
The High Stakes for 40 Million People
The new conservation deals are a positive step, but they are only a fraction of the cuts needed to stabilize a river system plagued by more than two decades of drought and chronic overuse. The current operating guidelines for the river expire at the end of 2026, and the seven states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—have struggled to agree on how to share the shrinking supply.
As reported by Newsmax, the negotiations have been contentious, pitting the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona, and Nevada against the Upper Basin states. The looming threat of federal intervention is designed to force a compromise and prevent a catastrophic decline in water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which would threaten water and power supplies for millions.
