- Reclamation
- Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River Basin, located in the southwestern United States, occupies an area of approximately 250,000 square miles. The Colorado River is approximately 1,400 miles long and originates along the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, and ends where it meets the Gulf of California in Mexico. The Colorado River is a critical resource in the West, because seven basin states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) depend on it for water supply, hydropower production, recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and other benefits. Although agricultural uses depend on 70 percent of Colorado River water, between 35 and 40 million people rely on the same water for some, if not all, of their municipal needs. Moreover, the United States also has a delivery obligation to Mexico for some of the Colorado River waters pursuant to a 1944 Treaty with Mexico.
Featured Areas
Announcements
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Colorado River Post 2026 Operations
Interior Department Finalizes Plans for 2027-2028 Colorado River Operations
Aug. 21, 2026 — The Department of the Interior issued the 2027-2028 Operating Guidelines and the Record of Decision for the Post-2026 Colorado River Operations Final EIS, establishing a 10-year Decision Framework with a broad operational range that will be used to develop future operational guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Together these decisions provide for reliable operations of the Colorado River system, delivery of vital water supplies, and protect critical federal infrastructure while preserving the flexibility necessary to respond to Basin states’ voluntary actions, consensus recommendations and the continued prolonged drought. The combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead have not been this low since before Lake Powell began filling following the closure of the gates at Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, with both Lake Powell and Lake Mead hitting record lows the last few weeks. Read More »
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Colorado River Post 2026 Operations
Reclamation Publishes Final Environmental Impact Statement for Future Colorado River Operations
July 31, 2026 — The Bureau of Reclamation has released the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which designates a preferred course of action for future management of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The preferred alternative establishes an adaptive decision framework to be used to develop operating guidelines designed to ensure reliable operations in the Colorado River Basin while maintaining the flexibility to respond to changing conditions over a 10-year period through 2036. The framework also preserves the opportunity for the Basin to continue working towards consensus agreements, and if successful, be incorporated into future operations. Read More »
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Colorado River
Reclamation Acts to Protect Colorado River System During Historic Drought
April 17, 2026 — Long-term drought has reduced Colorado River system storage to about 36 percent of capacity, and the combination of the lowest snowpack on record and record-breaking March heat has further intensified drought conditions across the Basin. These compounding factors are creating elevated risks to essential water and power infrastructure that supply water to more than 40 million people, underscoring the need for immediate action. Read More »
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Colorado River Post 2026 Operations
Reclamation releases draft environmental review for post-2026 Colorado River operations
Jan. 9, 2026 — The Bureau of Reclamation today released a draft Environmental Impact Statement evaluating a range of operational alternatives for managing of Colorado River reservoirs after 2026, when the current operating agreements expire. The draft EIS evaluates a broad range of potential operating strategies. It does not designate a preferred alternative, ensuring flexibility for a potential collective agreement. Read More »
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Colorado River
Alternatives Report - Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
Jan. 17, 2025 — Reclamation published the Alternatives Report to document the alternatives that were publicly released on November 20, 2024, and are anticipated to be carried forward in the draft EIS for the ongoing Post-2026 Colorado River Operations NEPA process. The alternatives identified in the report provide a reasonable and broad range of Colorado River operations that capture an appropriate range of potential environmental impacts from implementing new operational guidelines post-2026. The report also describes, in general terms, the process undertaken by Reclamation to develop the alternatives, provides a detailed description of the operational elements for each alternative, and compares the operational elements across each alternative. Learn more...
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Reclamation provides an update on Post-2026 process and alternatives at Colorado River Water Users Association Meeting
Dec. 5, 2024 — Reclamation's Carly Jerla provided an update on Lake Powell & Lake Mead Operations Post-2026. View presentation
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Colorado River Post 2026 Operations
Status Update Webinar-Alternatives Development
Reclamation held a webinar on Thursday, October 10, 2024, to provide a status update on the Post-2026 Process, including an overview of the ongoing work to develop NEPA alternatives.
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Colorado River
Reclamation finalizes environmental process to combat nonnative fish below Glen Canyon Dam
July 3, 2024 — The Bureau of Reclamation today finalized its process to protect the humpback chub and other federally protected fish species with the signing of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the 2016 Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan Final Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision. Reclamation initiated the environmental review process in response to the increasing numbers of smallmouth bass in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. Read More →
Current Activities
The Department has issued the Record of Decision for the Decision Framework for Colorado River Guidelines: Coordinated Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead (2027–2036). The Department is adopting the Decision Framework based on the Preferred Alternative analyzed in the Final EIS released on July 31, 2026.
Pursuant to the Record of Decision, and as a final agency action, the Department is issuing the Colorado River Guidelines for Coordinated Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead Operating Years 2027 and 2028. The 2027–2028 Operating Guidelines are for Operating Years 2027 and 2028 only.
Map of the Colorado River Basin
Federally Recognized Tribes in the Colorado River Basin
