Arizona joins Nevada in challenging a federal plan for operating the Colorado River over the next decade, according to multiple outlets. Arizona’s Department of Water Resources files to join the litigation, asserting the federal government is not holding upper-basin states accountable for delivering water that is legally owed to lower-basin users.
The lawsuit centers on the federal government’s “operating framework” for how the river is managed in coming years. Arizona argues the approach disregards key elements of the “law of the river,” and could lead to cuts to Arizona’s water apportionment. Other reporting describes the case as a challenge to the administration’s planned cutbacks, with Arizona and Nevada focused on compliance obligations across basin boundaries rather than only on how reductions are distributed.
