Every place on our map got there because someone reported it: a newspaper, a court, a water agency. This page collects those reports for the newest cases, newest first, each linking to the original. It is a list we keep by hand, not a feed, and nothing goes on it that the map has not checked; the FAQ explains the rule. To understand why the cuts land where they do, start with how water rights work; for where the river's water actually goes, see where the water goes.
Every card on the map rests on reporting and official notices. This page gathers those for the newest events, newest first, each linking to the original publisher. It is a hand-kept list, not a feed, and it carries nothing the register has not verified; the FAQ explains the rule. For why the cuts fall where they do, read how water rights work; for where the river's water goes in the first place, where the water goes.
19 items from the register's sources
The river was promised away before anyone measured it.The river was divided on paper before anyone knew how much water there was.
In 1922 the men who divided the Colorado River guessed it carried about 16.40 maf a year, and they handed out 16.50 maf. The river has actually averaged 14.60 maf since 1906, and only 12.40 maf this century. The promises add up to more water than exists. That gap is the whole crisis.The 1922 negotiators assumed 16.40 maf a year and promised 16.50 maf; the river has carried 14.60 maf on average since 1906 and 12.40 maf this century.
When there is not enough, the pain is not shared.Shortage is not shared.
Cuts do not go around the table. They run up a ladder, newest claim first. A farm district in California's Imperial Valley with a claim from 1901 keeps every drop. A Phoenix suburb that drinks from the Central Arizona Project canal, whose claim dates from 1968, is first in line to lose.It runs up the ladder from junior to senior. A farm district with an 1877 or 1901 right in the Imperial or Palo Verde valleys is protected by the 1968 Act; a Phoenix suburb on Central Arizona Project water is first in line.
California is being cut for the first time.The 2027–2028 rules cut California.
In 2026 California lost nothing. From 2027 it gives up 440 thousand acre-feet a year. The new rules last two years and promise nothing about the two after that.California took no shortage in 2026 and gives up 440 thousand acre-feet a year from 2027. The rules are the first guidelines written under the new ten-year framework, cover two years, and set no precedent for the next two.
Mexico and the tribes play by different rules.Mexico and the tribes sit outside the state-by-state math.
Mexico's 1.50 maf comes from a 1944 treaty, not from the states' deal. It lost 80 thousand acre-feet in 2026, and its share of the new cuts has not been agreed. Five tribal reservations along the river hold some of the oldest claims of all, from 1865 to 1917, which are filled before any state's. Other tribes, among them the Navajo Nation, are still waiting for their claims to be settled (see its page in the register).Mexico's 1.50 maf comes from a 1944 treaty; its cut was 80 thousand acre-feet in 2026 and its share of any post-2026 cut is not yet negotiated. The five reservations along the river hold present perfected rights with dates from 1865 to 1917, satisfied first regardless of state line; other tribal claims, such as the Navajo Nation's, remain unresolved (see its page in the register).
From the explainer how water rights work, where a slider shows which rights are cut first, with every number's source.
The Board of Trustees declared a Stage 1 water emergency on August 13 after Monument Creek, the town's surface source, went dry in June and well yields fell: outdoor watering only on Wednesday evenings from cans, with fines of up to $2,650.
Palmer Lake, CO·RestrictedMandatory restrictions take effect with sprinklers and automatic irrigation prohibited; repeat violators face penalties and possible shutoff.
Palmer Lake, CO·RestrictedAfter the neighbouring irrigation pivot was shut down and the town's well intakes deepened, the municipal wells recovered; the ban on recreational outdoor watering stayed in place.
Apple Valley, UT·RestrictedEstancia's wells in the over-pumped basin produced under 40 percent of demand, and the CoreCivic detention centre, the town's biggest customer, had its draw cut under the June 25 emergency.
Estancia, NM·Ran dryThe Board of Trustees declared a local water emergency with the two storage tanks at roughly 9 percent of capacity and one well producing about 80 gallons a minute against a 245 rating.
Estancia, NM·Ran dryWithin a day of a neighbouring farmer deepening an irrigation well and starting a large pivot, residents had air in their taps; the mayor ordered a halt to all outdoor use except for livestock.
Apple Valley, UT·RestrictedA 12-inch main crossing old coal-mine workings broke on March 13 and drained more than 9 million gallons into the Cucharas River; residents went nearly six days without running water.
Walsenburg, CO·Ran dryWater returned to most homes on March 18 under a boil advisory, with the city's long-term fixes still in question.
Walsenburg, CO·Ran dryThe State Water Board ordered Orosi and East Orosi to consolidate their water systems, four years after East Orosi's only working well pump failed in triple-digit heat.
East Orosi, CA·Ran dryThree years after Scottsdale closed its fill station to hauled water, EPCOR's facility for Rio Verde Foothills opened on January 1, 2026: the fix recorded on the card.
Rio Verde Foothills, AZ·Cut off·RestoredA main rupture drained a storage tank and put the city under a month-long boil order; Santa Fe sent water, in the third supply emergency since the 2022 fire.
Las Vegas, NM·RestrictedThe Academy Well, nearly a third of the joint Hildale and Colorado City supply, failed in a record heat wave; the cities banned all outdoor watering until a replacement pump went in.
Hildale, UT·RestrictedFlooding off the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon burn scar fouled every one of the city's water sources; the city counted a day and a half of drinking water and ordered non-essential businesses closed.
Las Vegas, NM·RestrictedIn Arizona v. Navajo Nation the Supreme Court held that the 1868 treaty reserved water for the reservation but imposed no duty on the United States to secure it, leaving the Nation to litigation, settlement or legislation.
Navajo Nation, AZ·ExcludedWeeks after Scottsdale stopped hauled water leaving the city, roughly 500 homes without wells were paying sharply more for water trucked from much farther away.
Rio Verde Foothills, AZ·Cut off·RestoredFalcon Lake, the county waterworks' only source, fell to about 10 percent of capacity, leaving about a foot of water over the silt at the intake; customers went onto Stage III mandatory restrictions.
Zapata, TX·RestrictedFalling groundwater cut the Yettem-Seville district's wells to half their usual output; water was hauled in for roughly 500 residents as the valley's emergency suppliers ran short.
Seville, CA·RestrictedTooleville's community wells lost production as the water table fell; residents went onto hauled water, about 27,000 gallons a day trucked into tanks.
Tooleville, CA·Ran dryThe pump on the community's one working well failed in triple-digit heat and the whole community lost running water for most of a day; a home burned with no water to fight the fire.
East Orosi, CA·Ran dryWhen a community is added to the register, or one gets its water back, we email the people who asked. A few emails a month at most, unsubscribe any time.
Each item is one of the sources cited on a community's card, so it has already passed the two-publisher rule. Dates are the publisher's own. The sentence under each title restates what the card says about that article; the facts are the publisher's. Every link goes to the original publisher.