Leaders from across the American West met in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday to discuss the future of the Colorado River, as prolonged drought and falling water supplies intensify pressure on the basin.
The invitation-only summit focused on cooperation, water security and practical measures to make the river system more resilient. It formed part of a wider campaign accompanying ultra-runner and water advocate Mina Guli, who is travelling 2,000 miles along the river from its source in the Rocky Mountains to the point where it runs dry.
The talks come as Arizona, California and Nevada prepare to reduce their combined use of the Colorado River by 1.25 million acre-feet a year in 2027 and 2028 under a federal plan. Arizona is expected to bear the largest share of those reductions.
Existing rules governing the river are due to expire in October, while the seven basin states remain divided over how water should be shared in the longer term. Last winter also brought the lowest snowpack on record for the Colorado River Basin, adding further strain to reservoirs, farms, industry and hydropower generation.
The Colorado River supplies water to more than 40 million people across the American West, including communities in Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, as well as parts of Mexico.
Colorado River summit seeks co-operation amid growing scarcity
Organisers said the Phoenix meeting was intended to build on discussions held during Guli’s journey and bring together local leaders, businesses, innovators and water advocates. The aim was to turn concern over the river’s decline into co-operation and commitments capable of strengthening the entire basin.
Phoenix officials have said the city has spent decades preparing for the possibility of reduced Colorado River deliveries. The city stores unused water underground, is expanding groundwater capacity and is developing an advanced water purification facility intended to provide an additional drought-resilient supply.
Although the Colorado River accounts for about 40 per cent of Phoenix’s water supply, the city also relies on the Salt and Verde rivers. Officials have said that conservation and infrastructure investment will remain central to protecting water supplies as negotiations over the river’s future continue.
