CO River Water Cutbacks Likely In 2017; US, Mexico Desperate To Complete New Treaty Pre-Trump
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A 16-year drought has sent water levels at the river's most important reservoir, Lake Mead, to their lowest point since it was first filled in the 1930s, threatening supply cuts for 40 million people across seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. Its also raising the stakes for the two countries as they try to hammer out an extension of a four-year-old agreement on how to share the water.
That agreement expires at the end of 2017, but negotiators who have worked for years are pressing to finish a new pact before President Barack Obama leaves office or put at risk years of fruitful collaboration on the sharing of cross-border water supplies that are vital to both countries. The fear is not only that Trump who has called Mexicans criminals and vowed to erect a massive border wall could derail any potential deal, but that even turning the talks over to new negotiators would stall the process at a critical moment, since it would take them months to get up to speed.
The issue is just one of dozens of crucial international topics, from relationships with NATO and Russia to Asian trade deals, that may take a dramatic shift under a Trump team that campaigned on an "America First" platform.
Farmers and cities in Arizona and Nevada could face their first cuts in water supplies a year from now, just as the existing agreement ends. Without a new agreement with Mexico, it is unclear whether or how those cuts could be shared across the border, raising the prospect of either deeper, swifter cuts to U.S. states or a bitter cross-border dispute.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/colorado-river-mexico-water-sharing-trump-231811