Federal government proposes major water cuts for three western states

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a plan on Friday to cut water supplies from the Colorado River. The cuts could reach 3 million acre-feet per year for ten years. Arizona, California, and Nevada would all be affected. That amount of water supplies up to 9 million households annually.

The federal cuts are nearly twice as large as what the three states had proposed themselves in May. Arizona would face the hardest reductions, hitting the Phoenix and Tucson areas, home to nearly 6 million people. Four upper basin states would not face mandatory cuts.

The Colorado River supplies more than 40 million people across seven states. The region has had its worst drought in 1,200 years, and reservoir levels have dropped to dangerously low levels.