Well, howdy there, Internet people, it spell again.

So today, we're going to talk about seven states, 40 million people, and water supplies from the Colorado River.

The negotiators from the seven states who were supposed to work out a compromise to share the water supplied by the

Colorado River, failed to reach consensus by the deadline. The Colorado River is about 1,450

miles from the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. That's about 2,300 kilometers to everybody living outside the U.S.

The water it supplies is absolutely critical to tens of millions of people. The problem is,

the need for water is increasing, and the supply isn't, and is in fact decreasing. Each state gets a set amount of water,

and the states were supposed to come to a new agreement to deal with the reduced resources.

Dr. Brad Udall, who is the senior water and climate research scientist at Colorado State University,

put it bluntly.

Quote, there needs to be unbelievably harsh, unprecedented cuts.

As you might imagine, states are reluctant to agree to cut their share of the water in the negotiations.

The states have kind of formed into two groups, with the upper basin states, which are Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming on one side, and the lower basin states, Arizona,

California, and Nevada on the other.

To sum up the position, the upper basin states are telling the

lower basin states that they are responsible for the deficits. And the lower basin states want the

upper basin states to take cuts as well. The governors of the lower basin states put out a joint statement, saying that all

seven states need to share in the conservation cuts and pointing out the urgency. Quote,

the federal deadline for a consensus agreement on managing the Colorado River after 2026 is passing for a second time

without resolution. The stakes couldn't be higher for our lower basin states of Arizona,

California, and Nevada. Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper said, quote,

If we don't address this problem together, head on and fast, our communities, farms, and economies will suffer.

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