Alex Hager

Those seven states, from Wyoming to California, seem unlikely to have a deal tomorrow.

Climate change is drying up the river, and states need to figure out how to rein in demand from cities and farms.

They say they're working hard behind the scenes to forge an agreement because the alternative is probably a big showdown in the Supreme Court.

The current rules for managing the river expire in October, and federal officials need to do a lot of environmental paperwork before then.

If they can't implement new rules in time, it could mean big shortages at the nation's largest reservoirs.

State leaders say they're now focused on a short-term plan to help avoid that.

For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Phoenix.