The water agreement that helped avert a monumental resource crisis

The Colorado River provides water to about 40 million people in seven US states, 30 Native American tribes and northern Mexico. But because of climate change, the river has become significantly drier in recent decades.

In part two of our look at negotiations over the Colorado River, we hear how the US states and Native American tribes reached a historic Colorado River agreement in May to reduce water consumption by 13 percent. Reporter Luke Runyon, who covered the talks for National Public Radio member station KUNC, is our guest on the show. He also hosts Thirst Gap, a podcast about the Colorado River.

Luke Runyon interviewed some of the key negotiators for our podcast, and he shares his insights with host Jenn Williams. The Negotiators is a collaboration between Doha Debates and Foreign Policy.

Listen to part one, “How negotiators navigated the thorny issue of water rights between Mexico and the US.”