Overview

• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s office has pressed the seven basin states to finalize a unified agreement by Nov. 11, 2025, warning it will impose its own rules if talks fail
• Negotiators are testing a 'natural flows' proposal that would base water releases on a three-year rolling average at Lee’s Ferry and allow Upper and Lower basins to manage allocations separately
• Interior Department plans to release a draft environmental impact statement in December 2025 evaluating multiple operational scenarios for the river
• Current interim guidelines expire at the end of 2026, prompting urgency to update rules governing deliveries to roughly 40 million users across the U.S. and Mexico
• Lake Powell and Lake Mead remain near record lows, intensifying divisions over hydropower requirements and cutback responsibilities between basin states