California, Arizona Narrow Differences on Colorado River Water

Colorado River Basin states are making progress in resolving differences about how to cut water use in the region amid the Southwest’s long-term drought, several people involved in the discussions said this week.

California and Arizona, where most of the Colorado River Basin’s 40 million people live, have been at odds about how to cut their water use, but discussions between the two states are “headed in the right direction,” said JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California and the state’s Colorado River commissioner.

The West’s 23-year drought has dropped the water in lakes Mead and Powell ...