Arizona will again go without 18% of its total Colorado River allocation, while Mexico loses 5%. The reduction for Nevada — which receives far less water than Arizona, California or Mexico — will stay at 7%. California won’t face any cuts because it has senior water rights and is the last to lose in times of shortage.

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will be subject to substantial cuts from their Colorado River allocations for the third year in a row, the Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday. The agency made these determinations in its August 2025 24-month study,

For more than a century, a collection of deals, treaties and legal agreements have divided up the Colorado River’s water, a vital supply for 40 million people, seven states in the U.S. and two in Mexico, 30 federally recognized tribal nations and 5.5 million acres of agriculture.