Senate Democrats from the U.S. West on Monday urged the Department of the Interior to end a funding freeze that could endanger the flow of the Colorado River. The lawmakers, from California, Nevada and Arizona, slammed the Trump administration’s day-one executive order that halted disbursements from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act — including $4 billion that Congress had earmarked for water management and conservation in the West. Among the projects that were supposed to benefit from those funds was the Lower Colorado River System Conservation and Efficiency Program, which had aimed to raise the elevation of Lake Mead — the basin’s largest reservoir — by 9 feet this year, the senators wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

• Office of Sen. Alex Padilla: News release: Padilla leads colleagues urging Interior Department to end funding freeze for Colorado River water savings projects
• The Fence Post (Greeley, Colo.): Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District board passes resolution opposing new annexations in Colorado Springs
• Big Pivots: Blog: Colorado needs good data center policy. This is not it.