Click the link to read the article on the AZCentral.com website (Brandon Loomis). Here’s an excerpt:
January 17, 2026
Key Points
- After negotiators for the seven Colorado River states failed to reach a water-sharing agreement, federal officials have invited governors to continue talks.
- The feds may impose their own plan if states cannot agree, potentially leading to major cuts for Arizona, with its junior water rights.
- The states face a mid-February timeline to present a “deal in principle” to replace guidelines expiring in September.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has invited all seven governors and their negotiators to meet in Washington in late January, [Tom] Buschatzke said. Perhaps getting the governors face-to-face could lead to a breakthrough, he added..The seven states have tried unsuccessfully for more than a year to reach a voluntary agreement to replace dam-operating guidelines that will expire with the end of the water year in September. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has asked states to submit an agreement by Feb. 14. That date falls on a weekend and likely isn’t a hard deadline for every detail in the plan, Buschatzke said, but a “deal in principle” probably needs to take shape by then if the states want to control their own destinies.