WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will have to make do with less water next year as well. the Colorado River after the U.S. government announced water cuts on Thursday that maintain the status quo. Long-term challenges remain for the 40 million people who depend on the endangered river.

The 1,450-mile-long river is a lifeline for the Western United States and also supplies water to cities and farms in northern Mexico. It supplies seven Western states, more than two dozen Native American tribes, and irrigates millions of acres of farmland in the American West. It also generates hydroelectric power used throughout the region.

Years of overuse combined with rising temperatures and drought have resulted in less water flowing in the Colorado today than in past decades.

The Interior Department announces water availability for the coming year months in advance so cities, farmers and others can plan. Officials do so based on the water level of Lake Mead, one of the river’s two main reservoirs, which serves as a barometer of its health.

Based on these figures, Arizona will again lose 18 percent of its total water from the Colorado River, while Mexico will get 5 percent less. The cut for Nevada – which receives far less water than Arizona, California or Mexico – will remain at 7 percent.

The cuts announced on Thursday fall into the same “Level 1” category that were in place this year and in 2022. when the first federal cuts to the Colorado River came into effect and exacerbated the crisis on the river. Deeper cuts followed in 2023. Arizona farmers were hit hardest by these cuts.

Heavy rainfall and other water conservation measures by Arizona, California and Nevada The near-term outlook for Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which lies upstream of Mead on the Utah-Arizona border, has improved somewhat.

On Thursday, officials said the capacity of the two reservoirs had fallen to 37 percent.

They praised ongoing efforts by Arizona, California and Nevada to conserve more water, which are in effect through 2026. The federal government pays water users in those states for much of those savings. In the meantime, states, tribes and others are negotiating how they will share the water from the river after 2026when many of the current river policies expire.

Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the state’s lead negotiator in those talks, said Thursday that Arizonans have “committed to incredible savings … to protect the Colorado River system.”

“Future conditions,” he added, “are likely to continue to force difficult decisions.”

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Associated Press reporter Amy Taxin contributed from Santa Ana, California.

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