Despite a federal deadline of Tuesday, Arizona and six other states that benefit from Colorado River water left their meeting here without reaching a deal about how to divide up the river's dwindling water supply.

But the Department of the Interior, which had set the deadline, has agreed to hold off on its threat to impose its own solution.

In a joint statement, the state and federal officials said "collective progress had been made'' to come up with a solution. More to the point, they said the work being done — against that federal deadline — "warrants continued efforts to define and approve details for a finalized agreement.''

The comments come just hours after Gov. Katie Hobbs said she doubts there actually will be a voluntary deal among the Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and

See Full Page