Bureau of Reclamation

Fish take the heat while kayakers walk more.

The federal government will cut back on the amount of water for Arizona, California and Nevada after years of negotiations. They will hit cities in the Phoenix and Tucson areas the hardest.

Water negotiators, river enthusiasts, Native tribes and lots of lawyers convened at the University of Colorado Law School on Thursday to take stock of the future of the dwindling Colorado River.

Aubrey Bettencourt will likely be nominated to run the Bureau of Reclamation, the top federal agency on the Colorado River, at a tense time for negotiations about sharing the water supply.

A new proposal for sharing Colorado River water would bring negotiators together every couple of years. That could create uncertainty and get in the way of big solutions for the future.

Wyoming State Parks and the Bureau of Reclamation are seeking public comment on potential improvements to a popular camping, boating and fishing area near Yellowstone’s East Entrance.

A federal agency wants to revoke management of lands on the Wind River Reservation. A portion of Muddy Ridge could go to the Bureau of Land Management, or to local entities like Wyoming’s two federally recognized tribes.

The Interior Department recently announced $180 million in new funding for large-scale water recycling programs. The money is available for local agencies looking to reuse wastewater, which officials say will make a big difference for western communities dealing with drought.

Six of the seven states that use water from the Colorado River proposed a way for the federal government to cut back on water use and protect dropping water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

A Nevada water agency has taken the first concrete step toward accounting for evaporation and other losses in the Colorado River’s Lower Basin. The new analysis attempts to pinpoint exactly how much water is lost, and who should cut back to bring the system closer to a balance between supply and demand.