by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
The Daily Sentinel
This week’s withdrawal of President Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) provides an opportunity, not just for a new nominee but for a new approach to the whole Colorado River management mess. It is an opportunity the White House and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum should take very seriously.
The nominee’s withdrawal, due to the skepticism of Upper Basin senators, highlighted the deteriorating relationship between BOR and the states.
In fact, BOR under Trump has thus far taken essentially the same tack as under Presidents Obama and Biden, namely threatening the states — including those in the Upper Basin — with a federal takeover if they don’t produce an “acceptable” plan to reduce their use of water. As negotiations between the seven Colorado River states have ground almost to a standstill, they are being reminded of a November “deadline” to submit a “preliminary assessment” of their ability to reach consensus. If the states notify BOR by Nov. 11 that a consensus agreement is unlikely, the agency says it will develop a federal plan for river management.
Why would the states write such a “notification” when doing so would invite a federal takeover? The “deadline” is artificial, invented by BOR with no legal basis. The agency also presumes an Oct. 1, 2026 “deadline” for final implementation of new operating guidelines, so it wants details ironed out by June. Yet the current Colorado River operating agreements (the 2007 Interim Guidelines and the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan) do not expire until Dec. 31, 2026, making BOR’s “deadlines” entirely arbitrary.
