Avoiding a long-expected crisis on the Colorado River, a water source for 40 million people, is coming down to a final few days of frenzied negotiations. A 19-year drought and decades of overuse have put a water shortfall on the horizon. If California and six other states, all with deeply entrenched interests, can’t agree on a plan to cut their water consumption by Jan. 31, the federal government says it will step in and decide the river's future. The Colorado River has been the object of some of the West's most bruising water battles. If farmers, cities and water districts can agree to conserve water now, it would mark a new era of cooperation. In California, the Colorado supplies millions of people in San Diego and the Los Angeles area. Its water also shows up on dinner plates across the country. In winter, most leafy greens and lettuce in grocery stores are grown with it, in California’s Imperial Valley or across the border in Arizona. Still, despite the high stakes, California and Arizona have yet to sign off on the plan. For California, it will take convincing one farming community to share water, even though their supply of the Colorado River is considered the most untouchable.
