PHOENIX — Seven states that use the water from the Colorado River must reach an agreement by Wednesday on how to divide the river’s water, or the federal government could step in and make a unilateral agreement.

So far, there is no deal.

Arizona gets most of its water from groundwater, but about a third comes from the Colorado River.

The fight traces back to the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which divides water between upper basin states like Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and lower basin states like Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and California. The basins disagree over how much the upper states must deliver to the lower states.

“The upper basin says 'we do not have that obligation,'" Sarah Porter with ASU's Kyl Center for Water Policy said. "And of course the lower basin says 'yes, you do.'"

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