- Colorado submitted formal comments on a federal plan for Lake Powell and Lake Mead operations after 2026.
- State officials say the draft plan relies on water supplies that may not exist.
- Colorado leaders argue stronger shortages are needed in the Lower Basin.
- The debate reflects growing pressure on the shrinking Colorado River system.
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 — The State of Colorado submitted comments to the United States Bureau of Reclamation regarding a major federal proposal that could shape the future of the Colorado River system.
The proposal is part of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement examining how Lake Powell and Lake Mead should be managed after 2026. These two reservoirs are the backbone of the river system that provides water to about 40 million people across the western United States and Mexico.
In an announcement published yesterday, Colorado officials said the current draft does not offer a workable long-term solution for the river, which has been under increasing strain from drought and declining water supplies.
Governor Jared Polis said the stakes are high for both Colorado and the broader region.
“The Colorado River is a life source for so many in our state and across the country, and we are working in good faith to reach an agreement that works for everyone and protects long-term operations for the river,” Polis said in a March 3, 2026 statement
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A Plan for the River After 2026.
The federal environmental review process is designed to guide operations of Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona and Lake Mead in Arizona and Nevada once the current rules expire in 2026.
Those rules were created in 2007, during a time when water managers expected the river system to eventually recover from drought.
Instead, the opposite happened.
Over the past two decades, the Colorado River Basin has experienced some of the driest conditions in recorded history. Reservoir levels have dropped dramatically, and the river now carries significantly less water than it did during much of the twentieth century.
Colorado officials say this new reality must guide future river management.
“The Colorado River has changed dramatically over the last two decades, and our operating rules need to change with it,” said Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell in the state’s statement released March 3, 2026.
Mitchell said the current draft federal analysis does not go far enough in addressing the imbalance between water supply and water demand.
Concerns About the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
In its 56-page comment letter to the Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado outlined several concerns with the draft environmental study.
According to the state, the analysis includes potential federal actions that fall outside the legal authority of the United States Secretary of the Interior.
State officials also argued that some of the proposed alternatives rely on water supplies that may not exist under current hydrologic conditions.
Another major concern involves how water shortages are handled between the Upper Basin states and the Lower Basin states.
Colorado leaders said the draft plan does not impose sufficient shortage reductions in the Lower Basin, which includes Arizona, California, and Nevada.
Differences Between Upper and Lower Basin Water Use.
Colorado is one of the Upper Basin states, along with Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico. These states are located where the Colorado River originates and where much of its water supply begins as mountain snowpack.
According to information provided by Colorado officials, water use patterns between the two regions have been very different.
Over the past two decades, Lower Basin states have used an average of about 11 million acre-feet of water each year while relying heavily on storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
By comparison, Upper Basin states have averaged about 4.3 million acre-feet per year. That amount is more than 3 million acre-feet below the level allocated to them under the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
Because water supplies in the Upper Basin depend directly on snowpack and runoff, users in those states often must reduce their water use when supplies drop.
Colorado officials say those shortages have averaged about 600,000 acre-feet per year for water users in the state and about 1.2 million acre-feet across the Upper Basin.
Calls for a Supply-Based Management System.
State leaders say future management of the river must better reflect the amount of water actually flowing through the system.
Lauren Ris, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, said a long-term strategy must account for the shrinking river.
“We can no longer rely on the management strategies of the past to solve the challenges of the present and future,” Ris said in the March 3, 2026 statement.
Colorado officials said they support a management framework that gradually rebuilds storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead over the coming decades while reducing risks to communities, farms, tribes, and industries that depend on the river.
Ongoing Negotiations Across the Basin.
The Bureau of Reclamation is currently reviewing comments submitted by states, tribal governments, water agencies, and other stakeholders.
Those comments will help shape the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which will guide how the federal government manages the Colorado River’s largest reservoirs after 2026.
Colorado officials said they intend to continue working with other Colorado River Basin states, tribes, water users, and federal officials to develop a plan that reflects the river’s declining supplies and the needs of the many communities that rely on it.
For now, the debate over how to balance those competing demands remains one of the most important water policy discussions in the American West.
