SALT LAKE CITY – The seven Colorado River Basin States have agreed that a proposal developed by the Lower Division States to conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water by 2026 should be transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation for further analysis as part of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement process (SEIS) for the 2007 Guidelines that govern operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. In a letter sent to the Bureau of Reclamation on May 22, 2023, all seven Basin States requested that Reclamation further analyze the Lower Basin proposal, and concurrently urged Reclamation to turn to planning for post-2026 operations at Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

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