Colorado River Negotiations Discussed at WRRC Co-sponsored Webinar
Glen Canyon Dam, Colorado River
Image: Bureau of Reclamation
On Thursday, July 16, a Growing Water Smart Peer Network Webinar featured a discussion of “Colorado River Negotiations.” Hosted by the Sonoran Institute and the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, the webinar was co-sponsored by the WRRC and the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University. WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal and Karen Schlatter, Director of the Colorado Water Center at Colorado State University, provided presentations followed by a question-and-answer session with attendees.
The webinar focused on the ongoing negotiations over the future management of the Colorado River in response to declining river flows. Negotiations are expected to conclude by October 2026 and will have significant implications for Colorado River-dependent communities throughout the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Schlatter and Megdal discussed the increasingly strained relationship between the Upper Basin and Lower Basin states, noting that calls for mediation emerged earlier this year as negotiations reached an impasse. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has developed five alternatives for post-2026 Colorado River operations, which can be found here. Reclamation has also proposed a 10-year operating framework that would require reservoir operations to be reevaluated every two years to better respond to changing hydrologic conditions.
Schlatter noted that, regardless of the preferred alternative selected by Reclamation, litigation by one or more basin states is likely. The potential that legal challenges will reach the US Supreme Court and extend for decades is high. In the meantime, water managers face continued uncertainty and may need to rely on short-term operational decisions while negotiations continue. Presenters suggested that a temporary two- to three-year agreement, supported by professional facilitators or mediators, could provide additional time to develop a more durable long-term solution. Missed the webinar? A recording of the event is available to view.