On Monday, the state of Nevada filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, seeking to block the Colorado River management plan.

On Friday, Burgum released a “record of decision” that would reduce water allocations to California, Nevada and Arizona, the Lower Basin states of the Colorado River.

The record of decision, according to the lawsuit, would take away 71% of the 300,000 acre-feet of water Nevada currently receives annually from the Colorado River. That water almost entirely goes to the Las Vegas Valley.

The Upper Basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — were spared cuts, but the Bureau of Reclamation, which controls Lake Mead and manages water deliveries in the Lower Basin, doesn’t have comparable authority to impose reductions on the Upper Basin.

The plaintiffs — the state of Nevada, the Colorado River Commission of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority — argue in their lawsuit the Interior Department violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the “law of the river” established in the 1922 Colorado River Compact and subsequent agreements.

The record of decision included a final environmental impact statement covering 2027-2028 operating guidelines for the river, along with a 10-year “decision framework” to be used to develop future operational guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The record of decision said there would be reductions in water delivered to the Lower Basin states of 1.25 million acre-feet annually for two years.

Arizona would lose 760,000 acre-feet; California, which has the most senior rights, would lose 440,000 acre-feet; and Nevada would lose 50,000 acre-feet.

In addition, the three Lower Basin states would “voluntarily” contribute and store another 700,000 acre-feet in that same time period.

An acre-foot is the volume of water needed to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot — roughly 362,000 gallons.

Burgum said Friday that the Seven Basin States, the 30 Basin Tribes, Mexico and other stakeholders provided the feedback and voluntary arrangements needed to shape the 2027-2028 operating guidelines.

Andrea Travnicek, assistant secretary for water and science, said the decisions give Basin stakeholders a strategy to manage through prolonged drought by using flexible tools and voluntary actions while preserving space for consensus agreements.

The Upper Colorado River Commission said in a statement Friday that the Interior Department’s approach “appears to represent a constructive step toward more closely aligning Colorado River operations with available water supply, which must remain the foundation for future operating decisions. These guidelines may also provide the needed flexibility to respond to changing hydrologic conditions while preserving the opportunity for the seven Basin States and the Department of the Interior to continue working toward a durable, consensus-based solution.”

The statement, however, acknowledged the record of decision is not a permanent solution.

Colorado Commissioner Becky Mitchell added that Upper Basin states already “strictly regulate water use and already experience mandatory reductions due to state regulation based on available supply. This framework provides a near-term path while the Basin States continue working toward a lasting agreement.”

JB Hamby, who chairs the Colorado River Board of California and serves as the state’s Colorado River commissioner, said Friday that the record of decision and two-year guidelines offer “badly needed near-term certainty at a moment of extraordinary risk.”

He called the Lower Basin states’ commitments “extraordinary,” saying they reflect how seriously those states are taking the river’s condition.

But this is a bridge, not a permanent solution, Hamby said. And three states cannot carry the responsibility of all seven.

He added, “California is prepared to discuss greater flexibility for the Upper Basin than the Colorado River Compact otherwise affords,” and that flexibility must be matched by the Upper Basin states to bring demand in line with what the river can supply.”

Activist Gary Wockner of Boulder, who leads groups opposed to dam construction, Activist Gary Wockner of Boulder, who leads groups opposed to dam construction, said the Interior Department’s decision “sets a powerful precedent that the federal government will sacrifice water users and the Grand Canyon’s aquatic ecosystem in a near-desperate attempt” to preserve Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell.

He added that as climate change further reduces river flows, prioritizing the dam “will make it harder to reconcile the various needs placed on the river.” Wockner said his group supports a solution that modifies or bypasses Glen Canyon Dam, calling it inevitable and argued that Reclamation “has buried its head in the concrete of a dam that should’ve never been built in the first place.”