Daniel Salzler No. 1333
EnviroInsight.org Three Items November 21, 2025
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- Deadline Passed, Arizona Governor Says Colorado River Headwater States Uncommitted To Conservation. Colorado and other upstream states aren’t doing enough to commit to sharing and conserving water in the Colorado River system, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said Wednesday as seven-state talks on managing the critical supply blew past a Trump administration deadline with no deal.
“Not only do they refuse to commit to any water use reductions, they tell our negotiators that it is too complicated and impossible for them to reduce water use. And I have a really hard time believing that,” Hobbs said at a news conference in Yuma.
The remarks suggested that the upstream states — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico — and the downstream states — Arizona, California and Nevada — have a ways to go before agreeing on how to manage the river. The dwindling supply of water now serves the needs of 40 million people, for everything from washing dishes to irrigating crops and running factories.
Colorado officials responded to Hobbs’ remarks, which resembled others she’s made about the negotiations recently, by saying they remained committed to the talks that have been ongoing for more than two years. A joint statement from the seven states, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday said they’ve made collective progress.
Earlier this year, the acting head of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Scott Cameron, told the seven states to agree to a framework for a river plan by Nov. 11. That deadline passed Tuesday with no announcement of a deal or even details about sticking points, heightening the chance the Interior Department will step in with its own plan before current rules and guidelines expire next year.
A key issue is that Upper Basin states don’t use their full share of water, yet are legally obligated to send a certain amount of water on average downstream to the Lower Basin. Meanwhile, the low levels of Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border have triggered mandatory reductions in the supply to those two states.
In a letter Tuesday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Hobbs and Arizona legislative leaders criticized what they said was an “extreme” negotiating position by Upper Basin states regarding water conservation. Arizona has been a leader in conservation, the letter asserts.
Colorado Water Commissioner Becky Mitchell responded by saying the letter’s “heightened rhetoric is not helpful at this time.”
A statement by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who, like Hobbs, is a Democrat, said: “We remain committed to collaborating with our fellow basin states and moving forward to do what is best for Colorado River users, including protecting Colorado’s water resources.”
Hobbs plans to meet with Burgum next week. It’s unclear when negotiators plan to meet again. Arizona Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug MacEachern said recent talks were happening about every other week.
At Wednesday’s news conference in Yuma, Hobbs took particular aim at Colorado for leading the Upper Basin states in refusing to “put any water on the table to share in future water shortages.”
More involvement by President Donald Trump’s administration seemed likely to John Berggren, regional policy manager with Western Resource Advocates, a Boulder, Colorado-based environmental group.
“The feds will move forward and we’ll continue to advocate for what we want to see in the new guidelines,” Berggren said. “Environmental values and environmental considerations.”
Much of the water originates as winter mountain snowfall in the Upper Basin, which collects far more that way than it consumes. Lower Basin states, including agriculture-rich regions like California’s Imperial Valley, are bigger consumers.
Along the way, major cities, including Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles, are also significant users of Colorado River water.
Who gets to use water — especially in dry spells — and who must conserve and let it flow downstream has been the focus of agreements among the states for decades. But the original 1922 Colorado River Compact was calculated based on an amount of water that doesn’t exist in today’s climate of long-term drought.
California’s biggest Colorado River water-rights holder, the Imperial Irrigation District, said in a statement that it supported California’s “collaborative approach” to a river plan and “voluntary, equitable, and durable solutions that uphold its senior water rights” while sustaining food production and the environment. Source: https://www.king5.com/article/syndication/associatedpress/deadline-passed-arizona-governor-says-colorado-river-headwater-states-uncommitted-to-conservation/616-78c01867-f477-4dfc-8332-698806b80498
2. CLIMAS – October 2025 Southwest Climate Outlook
Precipitation and Temperature
September precipitation was above normal across much of the region. For parts of central and southwest New Mexico, and parts of southern Arizona, precipitation was much-above normal. For eastern New Mexico, precipitation was near normal to below normal.
Southwest Precipitation
September 2025
Source: WestWide Drought Tracker
September temperatures were above normal—ranking among the upper third of all Septembers on record—across much of Arizona and New Mexico. Parts of Arizona and southern New Mexico had much-above normal temperatures—ranking in the upper 10% of the record. Temperatures in northeast New Mexico were near normal.
With September data in, the 2025 water year (October 2024–September 2025) record is complete. For much of Arizona, water year precipitation totals fell much below normal—in the bottom 10% of years on record. It was the driest water year on record for an area extending across Pima County, Arizona into eastern Arizona.
Southwest – Precipitation
October 2024 – September 2025 Percentile
Source: WestWide Drought Tracker
Drought
Although parts of Arizona has seen some improvement in drought conditions in the past month, with some areas reclassified to lower levels on the drought intensity scale, nearly all lands within Arizona, remain affected by drought conditions of moderate or greater intensity. The most intense drought conditions extend from the upper Gila River basin south to the U.S.-Mexico border and north onto the Colorado Plateau in western New Mexico. October 21, 2025.
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Source: U.S. Drought Monitor
Water Supply
Storage at Lake Mead and Lake Powell is far below the long-term average and is also down over last year’s levels. Other Arizona reservoirs are generally near average levels, except for San Carlos, where drought conditions in the Gila River basin have kept storage low. New Mexico reservoirs are generally at below-average levels and down over last year, except for in the eastern part of the state where wetter conditions have kept levels above average in several reservoirs.
Seasonal Precipitation Outlook
Nov – Dec – Jan 2025-26
Issued October 16, 2025
The November–January seasonal precipitation forecast indicates probabilities that lean toward below normal precipitation (33–50% chance) for an area that includes most of Arizona and New Mexico, with southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona falling in the region of relatively higher probabilities (40–50% chance). This seasonal forecast is informed by the expected La Niña conditions, how they play out in different model simulations of the upcoming season, and the tendencies of past years’ seasonal climate during similar La Niña conditions.
Seasonal Temperature Outlook
Nov – Dec – Jan 2015 – 26
Issued:bOctober 16, 2025
3. Keeping Leftovers From Thanksgiving Dinner. Signs that food has gone bad. There are some telltale signs that your leftovers are spoiled. Toss food that:
- Looks pale, gray or greenish
- Has visible mold
- Feels slimy, sticky or mushy
- Has curdled or separated
- Smells sour or rancid or otherwise “off”
It is crucial not to let food sit out for more than two hours. This is especially important if you’re planning to have a buffet-style dinner or if your meals have to be stored and transported to the in-laws or a friend’s house.
It’s also important not to place your food into the fridge too soon. You need to allow it to cool down to room temperature first.
Make sure you don’t put the food in the refrigerator while it’s still hot. “There is a food temperature danger zone, which is 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit, and this is where the food is most susceptible to bacteria. So, let it cool down quite a bit, and then you can put it in the refrigerator. This way, it’s less likely to have any chance of bacterial overgrowth.
Source: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-long-are-leftovers-good-for
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