US proposes cuts to Colorado River use for Arizona, California and Nevada

Three western states in the United States would take less water from the Colorado River under a federal proposal to stave off a crisis in the beleaguered waterway.On Friday, the US Bureau of Reclamation issued a proposal that would spare four other states from facing mandatory cuts for now.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3California water wars: A century of wrangling over Los Angeles’s waterlist 2 of 3Satellite images show 10 places where water is disappearing globallylist 3 of 3With water cuts looming in Arizona in US, locals fight data centresend of listIt is meant to be flexible, allowing deeper cuts in drier times while giving the states more time to collectively agree on how to manage the dwindling resource that flows through dams to produce hydropower.The Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada could together be forced to reduce their use by up to 3 million acre-feet (130 billion cubic feet) annually through 2036 — about the amount that Arizona and Nevada receive and enough to serve more than 25 million people a year.The actual reductions would be determined every two years based on conditions throughout the basin.“The Department has a responsibility...