Lombardo urges Colorado River states to come to agreement
In a rare public statement on contentious water use negotiations, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo urged the seven Colorado River Basin states to come to an agreement as time runs out to strike one.
Lombardo thanked Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a letter dated Tuesday for hosting a meeting in Washington, D.C. this week with all the state’s governors and appointed negotiators and asked him to schedule another one in January “as the risks of inaction continue to grow.”
What happens in the inter-state negotiating room in the coming months has immense implications for Southern Nevada, which sources about 90 percent of its water supply from Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir.
Federal water managers project the Colorado River reservoir, about 28 percent full this week, will decline below historic lows in 2027.
Nevada statement on water negotiations by Las Vegas Review-Journal
“A seven-state agreement remains the preferred path,” Lombardo wrote. “Achieving that outcome will require continued federal leadership, clear direction, firm timelines and the expectation that all parties will stay engaged until we reach an equitable and lasting outcome.”
A showdown behind closed doors
The Lower Basin states of Nevada, California and Arizona have been at odds with the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming on how to proceed as the 2007 operating regime expires at the end of next year.
The Upper Basin’s negotiators say they cannot agree to further cuts in the water they are allowed to use from the river due to intensely declining snowpack in the Rocky Mountains. Nevada and its allies have said the entire basin should be forced to “share the pain” when it comes to reductions.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation has said it would decide for the states if they cannot come to an agreement, though that could open the door for a lengthy legal battle. The negotiators missed a deadline last month to deliver a consensus framework, but Reclamation is required to release a final environmental impact statement on Feb. 14.
Lombardo’s tone is noticeably different than that of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, who wrote in a letter last month that the “extreme negotiating position of the Upper Basin states would force the Lower Basin to bear the entirety of water cuts.”
“The challenges we face are significant and addressing them requires urgency and a shared commitment to continued dialogue,” Lombardo wrote. “Nevada, along with our partners in the Lower Basin, stands ready to participate constructively.”
The letter comes less than a week before the start of the Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas, where the seven states will speak on a panel and update stakeholders on the negotiations.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
