Cuts to water use along the Colorado River could be spread evenly across some Southwestern states, or follow the priority system that currently governs water management, as federal officials consider ways to keep hydropower generation going at the nation’s largest reservoirs. Read more»

Federal officials said they will consider a plan by Arizona and five other Colorado River basin states on how to further cut water consumption, even though the biggest user in the basin – California – has not signed off on it. Read more»

Few Arizona residents will notice any immediate change to the availability of water after Jan. 1 - when cuts will be imposed on the amount of water the state can draw from the Colorado River - as officials struggle to keep Lakes Powell and Mead from falling to critically low levels. Read more»

Experts in government, agriculture, water management and the environment stressed during a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday the danger that droughts fueled by climate change pose in the West, including the Colorado River Basin. Read more»

Hundreds of thousands of people have moved to the Phoenix area in recent years looking for affordable homes and sunshine, and home sales have increased by nearly 12 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic, but there's just one problem: The region doesn’t appear to have enough water for all the growth. Read more»

Two weeks after water officials told Congress there was urgent need to approve the Colorado River drought contingency plan, the House and Senate both passed a plan Monday and sent it to the president’s desk. Read more»

The director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday there is an “urgent need” to authorize a multistate drought contingency plan for the Colorado River basin. Read more»

Negotiations on a drought plan for Arizona took a step forward Thursday when the head of the state water department said Gov. Doug Ducey will ask for $30 million in his upcoming budget proposal to help make the Drought Contingency Plan a reality. Read more»

Lake Mead's dropping levels mean Arizona could lose its water allotment for the Central Arizona Project, which could lead to higher rates, and even restrictions. Conservation may be key to keeping water in everyone’s taps across the state. Read more»

Arizona’s top water official told a congressional committee that even though the state has done a lot right, years of drought still threaten to push the region into a water emergency in the next few years. Read more» 1

Unusually high rainfall in the Colorado River basin this spring helped boost Lake Mead water levels, averting a possible water emergency that would have triggered cuts in water allocations next year. Read more»

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton told a Washington panel Tuesday that Arizona is in a fight to make sure other states, particularly California, don’t take water “that rightfully belongs to the people of Arizona.” Read more»

Arizona wants more control of its water resources and more equity between as the ongoing drought in Western states brings the likelihood of further shortages to the region, a state official testified Tuesday. Read more»

Officials from the Arizona Department of Water Resources and CAP say decades of planning have prepared the state for a water shortage expected to be declared on the Colorado River. They say a shortage wouldn't immediately affect cities or industries. Read more»