7 states and federal government lack direction on cutbacks from the Colorado River
With drought conditions lowering water levels, some local leaders are calling on the federal government to take charge. The seven states rely on the Colorado River for agriculture and electricity.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — As the Colorado River shrinks, the seven states in the western United States that rely on it for water and power need to cut their use dramatically to keep the biggest reservoirs from getting critically low, according to federal analysts.
But a recent deadline for a plan to conserve an unprecedented amount of water came and went without many specifics from either the states or the federal government on how to achieve the cutbacks.
In June, federal officials gave leaders in the states the draw from the river — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — a mid-August deadline to
