New Mexico

A recent $1B pledge from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could help chip away at a backlog dating to 1993. But Kennedy says it will take much more — $8B — to replace the seven clinics and hospitals still on the list.

Estevan López, New Mexico's water negotiator, said talks resumed in March, and the upper and lower basin states are using a short-term proposal from Nevada as the starting point.

It's known by the name Velvet-Wood, and the project's Canadian owner got the go-ahead back in May as the first to undergo an "accelerated," two-week environmental review, during which tribes had only seven days to reply.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo released a joint statement Saturday calling on Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico to offer more concessions.

Negotiators are focusing on a five-year agreement for sharing water from the shrinking river. Experts say that would provide some much-needed flexibility.

State negotiators entered the meeting at a years-long impasse over how water restrictions should be managed during dry years. They now have less than two weeks until a federal Feb. 14 deadline.

Dozens of the 575 federally recognized Native American tribes are making it easier to get tribal IDs by waiving fees, lowering the age of eligibility and printing cards on the spot. As Native Americans rush to secure the documents, many see a bitter irony in the first people of the land having to prove that they too are U.S. citizens.

Water leaders in the U.S. West gathered this week in Las Vegas with a hefty task hanging over their heads — figuring out a long-term plan for sharing water from the Colorado River.

Utah and the 6 states that share the river missed a federal Nov. 11 deadline to make progress on a new water agreement. Gov. Katie Hobbs said she has a hard time believing the Upper Basin states can't reduce water use.

The Biden administration issued an order in 2023 banning new oil and gas development within 10 miles of the historic site for 20 years. Tribal leaders who had celebrated the move are now concerned about the potential for protections to be rolled back.

A group of nonprofits is calling for reductions to water demand, changes at Glen Canyon Dam and more transparent negotiations.

Two years ahead of what could be a final round of applications, allegations of predatory representation and solicitation are on the rise, and especially targeting tribal communities. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was reauthorized over the summer.