Las Vegas (AP) Colorado and six other Colorado river states have filed a plan with the interior department aimed at divvying up scarce water resources during drought.
Officials say the long-debated pact represents the most comprehensive guidelines in the history of the river, and would protect 30 million people who depend on the river for drinking water.
Glenwood Springs water attorney Scott Balcomb helped negotiate the agreement. He says the proposed plan encourages lower Colorado river states to develop new sources of water -- reducing the chances they would have to seek water from upper basin states like Colorado.
The proposed plan would allow upper basin states to send less water to Arizona and Nevada in times of severe drought and low snowpack, while giving lower basin states ways to augment their supplies.