Hobbs heads to D.C. for Colorado River talks as feds' deadline approaches
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The Hoover Dam and the Colorado River, shown from Boulder City, Nevada, in March 2025. Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Arizona water officials are blasting a set of federal proposals for a new Colorado River agreement as Gov. Katie Hobbs heads to Washington, D.C., with hopes of breaking the impasse over the critical waterway.
Why it matters: Arizona has low-priority water rights from the Colorado River, meaning it's at the top of the list for cuts amid shortages, which have been prevalent as a regional drought persists.
State of play: Negotiations have largely stalled between the seven Colorado River basin states as they seek a deal to replace an expiring agreement to distribute water and apportion shortage-induced cuts.
- Arizona and its fellow lower-basin states, California and Nevada, have largely united against the upper-basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
- Hobbs and legislative leaders from both parties blamed the upper-basin states for the stalemate and asked the feds to impose "measurable and enforceable conservation requirements" on them in a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior in November.
Driving the news: Hobbs will be in Washington on Friday after U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called a meeting of the seven Colorado River basin state governors.
- Arizona Department of Water Resources director Tom Buschatzke told reporters last week that he's hopeful that getting the governors in one room "might break loose the things that need to be addressed."
What we're watching: The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation issued a draft environmental impact statement this month that included five potential plans to manage Colorado River water among the basin states.
Zoom in: Officials from the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, which oversees the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal system, issued a statement Monday rejecting five proposals from the Bureau of Land Management.
- The recommendations all place the burden of shortages on the lower basin "and are harmful to Arizona," CAP said.
- The Arizona Department of Water Resources is reviewing the proposals, spokesperson Shauna Evans said.
- "I don't think any of those are really finalized, and we're still committed to getting this done through negotiations," Hobbs spokesperson Christian Slater told Axios.
The intrigue: Former CAP general manager Ted Cooke told Axios he expects that if anything comes of the D.C. meeting, it'll be a short-term agreement of up to five years, not the 20-year deal officials are aiming for.
- Buschatzke suggested the states could reach a "hybrid" agreement that would have some flexibility for future years.
Threat level: The Interior Department set a Feb. 14 deadline to reach a deal.
- Yes, but: The public comment period for the recent federal proposals runs through March 2, CAP spokesperson DeEtte Person noted.
- Asked whether Hobbs is optimistic that they'll get an agreement before the February deadline, Slater said, "I think we'll have a better sense of the level of optimism after the meeting with governors."
- At a legislative committee hearing Tuesday, Buschatzke emphasized that the proposals are still in the draft phase and that there's still time to get changes.