Alex Hager

Patrick Dent is with the Central Arizona Project, which brings Colorado River water to the Phoenix area.

The plan would still need approval from federal water managers, but they appear likely to pass at least parts of the new proposal.

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

Those states would leave water in the Colorado River as part of an effort to prop up dangerously low reservoirs.

Arizona would still have to take cuts, but they would not be as deep as suggested in a previous plan.

Patrick Dent is with the Central Arizona Project, which brings Colorado River water to the Phoenix area.

The plan would still need approval from federal water managers, but they appear likely to pass at least parts of the new proposal.

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

The plan, which was co-signed by Arizona, California, and Nevada, would cut back on the amount of water sent to those states, with Arizona taking the biggest reductions.

They'd leave that water in Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir.

It's designed to steer the states away from big lawsuits about sharing water.

Stalled negotiations had left them on course for a legal battle as reservoirs dropped lower.

The proposal would need to be approved by the federal government before it's official.

State leaders said this plan is just a bridge until 2028.

Now they're calling on other states, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico, to rejoin talks about a long-term plan for sharing the shrinking water supply.

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

The plan, which was co-signed by Arizona, California, and Nevada, would cut back on the amount of water sent to those states, with Arizona taking the biggest reductions.

They'd leave that water in Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir.

It's designed to steer the states away from big lawsuits about sharing water.

Stalled negotiations had left them on course for a legal battle as reservoirs dropped lower.