Arizona joins Nevada in lawsuit against federal Colorado River cuts

Arizona has joined Nevada in a lawsuit challenging proposed cuts to their shares of the Colorado River, the Guardian and the Los Angeles Times reported. The legal action follows restrictions announced by the Trump administration during the summer. According to the Guardian, those federal restrictions could reduce the water supplied to lower basin states over the next two years. [1][2][4]

The restrictions apply to lower basin states including Arizona, California, and Nevada, depending on conditions along the waterway, according to the Guardian. The river's primary reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have dropped to historically low levels because of overuse and climate change. [1]

The Colorado River runs 1,450 miles across seven United States states and two Mexican states, flowing through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona and Nevada border. Prolonged drought, human extraction, and climate variability have caused declining flows, leaving reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell at critically low levels. [8][10]

The Guardian reported that the states sharing the waterway had reached an impasse prior to the legal action. Multiple news outlets, including the Washington Post and the Arizona Daily Star, confirmed that Arizona has officially intervened in the ongoing lawsuit against the federal government. [1][2][5]