LOS ANGELES — The federal government on Tuesday laid out two options for preventing the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs from falling to critically low levels, saying it could either impose cuts across the Southwest by following the water-rights priority system or by using an across-the-board percentage.
The stakes of this decision are high for California, which receives the largest share of water from the Colorado River. An across-the-board cut could hit California harder, particularly agricultural regions.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation presented its alternatives as an initial step in a review aimed at revising the rules for dealing with shortages through 2026. The reductions, if adopted, could affect cities and farming areas in California, Arizona and Nevada.
