"All seven states know that if we're unable to achieve an agreement, it would likely fall to the courts, and that would be a lengthy and uncertain process," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in an interview."
""I'm confident that Colorado would prevail based on the merits," Polis said, but a court fight is "something that I don't think any state desires.""
The seven Colorado River basin states remain deadlocked over water allocations as relentless drought intensified by climate change has depleted the river and its reservoirs. The Interior Department set a Feb. 14 target for a deal, yet substantial disagreements persist between Lower Basin states (California, Arizona, Nevada) and Upper Basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico). The river supplies roughly 35 million people and 5 million acres of farmland and was apportioned by the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which overpromised available flows. The compact requires an average release of at least 7.5 million acre-feet to the Lower Basin per decade plus an allotment for Mexico. Lake Mead inflows may soon trigger a legal mechanism allowing Arizona to demand upstream cuts and sue for compact violations, increasing the likelihood of federal unilateral cuts and lengthy court battles.
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