Arizona joins Nevada to fight proposed cuts to their shares of Colorado River

Arizona joins Nevada in fight against proposed Colorado River water cuts

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Arizona has joined Nevada in a legal battle against the proposed cuts to their shares of the Colorado River, following the Trump administration's announcement of restrictions that could slash water supplies to lower basin states.

The move comes after the interior department announced restrictions this summer that could slash the water supplied to Arizona, California, and Nevada over the next two years, depending on the river's condition.

The Colorado River's major reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have plummeted to historically low levels due to overuse and a changing climate.

The states sharing the waterway were at an impasse with the upper basin states arguing that their downstream counterparts were responsible for the reservoir's water shortages and should thus face the largest cuts.

The federal government's intervention came after the states missed several deadlines for a consensus.

The fear looming over the state of the river is that if reservoir levels plunged far enough, the waterway would effectively not be able to flow downstream, a so-called deadpool.

The upper basin states – Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico – were spared from the water cuts, an exemption that has drawn sharp rebuke from the leaders of the lower basin states.