The three Lower Basin states along the Colorado River — California, Arizona and Nevada — have offered a proposal to reach an agreement to manage the water for more than 40 million people in the American West.

As had been hinted at by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in comments this week to FOX 13 News, it is a short-term deal to prop up Lake Powell and Lake Mead and keep the entire river system from collapsing. In a proposal released Friday night, the Lower Basin states noted their conservation contributions of 1.5 million acre-feet, including reductions from Mexico. The states now offer at least 700,000 acre-feet more with a target of up to 1 million acre-feet.

“The Lower Basin proposal provides just that, including 3.2 million acre-feet of savings by water users across the Lower Basin through 2028, which builds on our conservation record of over 11 million-acre-feet of contributions to the system since 2003. It is an ambitious and far-reaching plan that benefits the entire Colorado River Basin and requires the continued leadership of the Department of Interior in partnering with the Lower Basin states to bring its benefits to fruition,” the Lower Basin states’ commissioners for the Colorado River wrote in their proposal to the U.S. Department of Interior.

California, Nevada and Arizona’s commissioners said they support the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s proposal to release water from Flaming Gorge to prop up Lake Powell. But if there is any surplus, they asked for it to be released from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. The states also called for infrastructure spending to improve Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell with an eye toward water efficiencies.

For more on the story, visit https://www.fox13now.com/news/colorado-river-collaborative/lower-basin-states-offer-a-colorado-river-deal