Arizona and Nevada states face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as western US endures more drought
More than two decades of well below-average rainfall have left the river, the lifeblood of the western United States, at critically low levels.
"Water use in the Basin must be reduced," said Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Interior Department. California, the biggest user of the river's water and the most populous of the western states, will not be affected next year. It is fed mainly by snow caps on mountains at high altitudes, which melts slowly throughout the warmer months.
Federal officials asked for reduced usage of 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water per year, a reduction of 15 percent to 30 percent in the coming year. She emphasised the partnership between federal officials and their counterparts in the seven states and Mexico but repeatedly declined to say how much time the states will have to reach the deal she requested in June.For years, cities and farms have consumed more water from the river than what flows through it, depleting its reservoirs and raising questions about how it will be divided as water becomes more scarce.
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