U.S. and Mexico set to sign landmark Colorado River water-sharing deal

The Colorado River provides water for seven western states and Mexico.

Heavily overallocated and ravaged by years of drought, the river is also under growing strains due to climate change.

The U.S. and Mexican governments are close to signing a landmark Colorado River deal that will establish rules for sharing water over the next decade and lay out cooperative efforts intended to head off severe shortages. Mexican and American officials have scheduled a signing ceremony on Sept. 26 in Ciudad Juárez, officials at California water districts said this week. They said that formal event will be followed by a ceremonial signing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Sept. 27 attended by representatives from U.S. states.

“This is important to both countries, and will now allow the states and our federal partners to refocus back to drought contingency planning.”

—Bart Fisher, chair, California’s Colorado River Board

California water suppliers – including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Imperial Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley Water District – approved related agreements on Tuesday, taking some of the final steps necessary to complete the deal.

California’s Colorado River Board also signed off at a meeting […]

Full article: U.S. and Mexico set to sign landmark Colorado River water-sharing deal