Under a new federal plan out today to manage the Colorado river, Arizona, California and Nevada face potentially steep water cuts over the next decade. The plan by the Interior Department will impact communities and farms across those states. For now, the proposal spares Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming from mandatory water cuts. Legal battles are expected.

The Trump administration announced emergency measures to send water from reservoirs high in the river basin to those downstream in the wake of a historically dry Rocky Mountain winter.

The Trump administration is using different tactics that his predecessor to get the states the share the Colorado river to agree how to do it in a climate changed world.