As Battle Continues Between Upper & Lower Basin States Re. Colorado, USBR Nominee (From AZ) Withdraws Under Pressure

[hatrack]

Ed. - Yeah, great fucking job, pick the guy who spent years running the Central Arizona Project to manage the nation's water supply. No controversy there!!

Negotiations ahead of a 2026 deadline appear to be making little progress, and federal water officials can help push states towards agreement. If they can’t reach a deal in time, the federal government can step in and make those decisions itself. After Cooke’s nomination in June, some policymakers in the Upper Basin quietly expressed concern that he might favor the Lower Basin during that process.

Top water officials in the Upper Basin were tight-lipped in their opposition, but multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told KUNC that Cooke would face a difficult path to confirmation. In a June meeting, Utah’s top Colorado River negotiator, Gene Shawcroft, briefly touched on the Trump Administration’s pick to run Reclamation. “I hesitate to use the word disturbing, but it is a little disturbing,” Shawcroft said. “That is concerning to us for a variety of reasons, and I’ll probably leave it at that.”

Cooke spent more than two decades working for the Central Arizona Project, which brings Colorado River water to the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Any new plan for managing the Colorado River is likely to include cuts to demand, and Cooke’s former employer is generally among the first entities to lose water under any plan for cutbacks.

EDIT

Cooke’s withdrawal means that the top federal Colorado River agency will remain without a permanent leader. The seat has already been vacant for eight months. That may make seven-state negotiations more challenging. State water leaders have said that the threat of federal action can make it easier to find agreement. While the top Reclamation role goes unfilled, other federal water officials appear to be filling the gap. Scott Cameron, a longtime federal official who currently serves as the Department of the Interior’s acting Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, told a room of water experts in June that he was intimately involved with those seven-state talks.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19092025/trump-federal-water-manager-nominee-withdraws/

[Envirogal]

1. Limits to Growth

Any state that gets their water from the Colorado River must reduce their usage now or the river will make the decision for them. Nature is being stretched thin by ridiculous human sprawl growth in very dry regions. The math ain’t in their favor.