Western US states fail to negotiate crucial Colorado River deal: ‘Mother nature isn’t going to bail us out’ | Colorado river crisis | The Guardian

Western US states failed to negotiate a crucial Colorado River deal, leaving the region in uncertainty. The negotiators ended their talks without a deal, one day before a critical deadline. The Colorado River, which supplies water to 40 million people in seven states, is facing unprecedented water cuts due to overuse, rising temperatures, and lower precipitation caused by the climate crisis. The states are divided over who should bear the brunt of the cuts, with upper-basin states resisting cuts to their share and lower-basin states demanding their neighbors to the north share the burden. If the states can't produce a path forward, the federal government has threatened to issue its own plan, likely to deeply slash the lower-basin states’ shares. The outcome could lead to lawsuits and complex court battles.