Ending weeks of mostly fruitless discussions, the seven states along the Colorado River have reached a stalemate over how the river should be managed in the midst of a drought. Specifically, the upper- and lower-basin states are at odds over how much water should be released downstream from Lake Powell this year and have left it to the Interior secretary to make the call - which she is expected to do by Friday.

"We finally agreed that we could not come to a consensus," Larry Anderson, the director of Utah's Division of Water resources, said Wednesday.

"We're all friends," he added. "But they know and we know that these are tough decisions, and because of the drought, we're going to have to resolve them."

The upper-basin states - Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico - have asked for a reduction in the 8.23 million acre-foot allotment of water they deliver annually to Nevada, Arizona and California in the lower basin, citing the chance to begin refilling Lake Powell after six years of drought. Snowmelt into the upper basin of the Colorado is forecast to be 107 percent of normal this year.

But the lower-basin states have balked, arguing that because of the generous snowpack, there is more than enough water for a normal release. Any reduction would short Lake Mead, their largest source for water storage. And that could ultimately lead to a legal challenge.

The seven states - which formed the Colorado Compact in 1922 - have been meeting regularly since last December, when Norton ordered them to devise their own drought management plans for the river. But little headway has been made, and after no agreement was forged during Tuesday's final gathering in Las Vegas, the states officially handed off the issue to the feds.

"The idea was that the states would develop some middle ground," Tom Werner, an assistant secretary with the Department of Interior, told the Rocky Mountain News.

"We clearly didn't get there."

Anderson says the upper-basin states have never formally asked that a specific amount of Lake Powell water be held back. But Bureau of Reclamation officials provided two possible scenarios in Las Vegas - one in which the upper basin keeps an extra 200,000 acre-feet, another in which 500,000 acre-feet is withheld.

If Norton were to adopt the smaller figure, Anderson says, Powell would rise an additional two feet above the 45 to 50 feet it is projected to climb this year. Adopting the larger figure, the reservoir would go up an additional five feet. Powell is currently filled at just 33 percent of capacity.

"We've got an opportunity here," said Anderson. "All we're asking is that the secretary leave a little extra water in Powell, just in case this is a wet year in a continuing drought cycle. It would give us a little more security; help ensure we don't drop below the power [intakes] at Lake Powell. We think the drought justifies it."

But that opinion is not shared below the Glen Canyon Dam. At least not now.

"If the drought had worsened, we were open to a lower release. But we had a wetter-than-average year and [Powell and Mead] will refill to almost an identical capacity," said Vince Alberta, spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "Our view is we don't need to do this right now. This is not the right time to make a change how the reservoirs are operated."

Alberta downplayed the possibility of a legal challenge should Norton rule in favor of the upper basin. But he didn't rule it out, either.

"Let's get there and then see what happens," he said.

Water issues

The Colorado River's four upper basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona) have called for a reduction in the amount of water released from Lake Powell to Nevada, Arizona and California in the lower basin because of water losses incurred during the drought.

The lower basin states have balked at the proposal, citing above-average precipitation during the winter months.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton will make a decision about the Powell release by the end of the week, perhaps igniting a legal challenge.