Wyoming and other Upper Colorado River Basin states would be spared mandatory cuts, while the Lower Basin states — Arizona, Nevada and California — face significant water use reductions under a new federal proposal for future management of the beleaguered western water system. The U.S. Depar tment of the Interior issued Friday its final environmental impact statement, guiding how water will be divided during a shortage. The rare federal intervention came after stakeholder states and tribes failed, so far, to agree on a plan of their own. The current drought contingency plan, which is intended to prevent Lake Powell and Lake Mead from shrinking below “minimum power pool” — the point where water releases won’t flow through electric-generating turbines — expires at the end of this year. Click to enlarge: The Colorado River Basin, shown as upper and lower basins. (Bureau of Reclamation) The new federal plan, administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, could force an annual reduction of 3 million acre-feet of water consumed by Lower Basin states, depending on the severity of the water shortage. Upper Basin states avoid mandatory cuts — at least in the short-term — but would have to collectively conserve up to 200,000 acre-feet annually. The plan also calls on Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which straddles the Wyoming-Utah border, to remain a primary backup, potentially tapped for up to 1 million acre-feet of extra annual water releases, according to federal documents. Federal officials appear to have been swayed by a particular argument from the Upper Basin states regarding the split in water-use reductions, according to some analysts. Because they are headwater states, their farmers, ranchers and other water users already suffer significant cutbacks in times of drought because they generally get what Mother Nature delivers, whereas the Lower Basin states reap the benefits of balancing deliveries via a network of reservoir storage.  “While the final details are still being analyzed by Upper Division States, we are encouraged that new operating guidelines will better reflect existing water supply, which must underpin any practicable plan going forward,” Gov. Mark Gordon and his fellow Upper Basin state governors said in a joint statement Friday. Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart put a finer point on the division of the federal government’s and Mother Nature’s authorities. “In the Upper Basin, water use is already limited by available supply, administered under state law, and the Secretary [of Interior] does not have comparable authority to mandate reductions,” Gebhart told WyoFile via email. “That does not mean the Upper Basin has no responsibilities — it means those responsibilities are carried out through different mechanisms, including reservoir operations, state-led programs and collaborative efforts to maintain system reliability.” Wyoming and the other Upper Basin states are advancing water conservation efforts to improve long-term resilience for the river system, Gebhart added. Historically low snowpack this past winter, combined with a searing heat wave across much of the West, has wreaked havoc on the Colorado River system, sapping it to just 32% capacity, according to federal data. Lake Powell measured 23% capacity on Sunday while Lake Mead measured 27%. Lake Powell is expected to continue shrinking this year, despite reduced releases and extra flows from upstream Flaming Gorge, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. “The combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead have not been this low since before Glen Canyon Dam began filling in 1963, and since 2000 water use has exceeded total system inflow in most years,” the agency stated in a press release Friday. Click to enlarge: This chart depicts Flaming Gorge Reservoir’s water level since October 2025. (Bureau of Reclamation) In coordination with the Upper Basin states, the bureau announced in April it would release up to 1 million additional acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge through April 2027. At the time, water managers predicted the extra release would drop the reservoir by about 35 feet to a capacity of 59%. Barring a last-minute agreement among Colorado River stakeholders, the Interior is expected to issue a record of decision later this year that would put into motion a 10-year drought contingency plan. “We are witnessing the lowest reservoir levels in the Colorado River System’s history and there is no guarantee regarding the future water supply,” Gordon and his Upper Basin counterparts said in a prepared statement. “Today’s framework does not represent a final solution, but enables the river to be managed in the short-term while the seven states and [Department of Interior] continue to negotiate a consensus solution.” The post Colorado River plan spares Wyoming from major cuts appeared first on WyoFile . ...read more read less