Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will be subject to substantial cuts from their Colorado River allocations for the third year in a row, the Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday.

The agency made these determinations in its August 2025 24-month study, which provides an outlook on hydrological conditions and projected operations for the basin’s two biggest reservoirs: Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

Lake Mead, according to the study, will remain in what’s called a “Level 1 Shortage Condition” — a classification that necessitates water reductions as delineated in multiple domestic and binational agreements.

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