"Trump Win Churns U.S.-Mexico Water Talks"

"Negotiators from both nations are hustling to finish a new agreement for sharing water from the Colorado River — before President Barack Obama leaves office."

"Negotiations between the U.S. and Mexico to seal a water-sharing deal over the dwindling supplies on the Colorado River are confronting a new deadline: the inauguration of Donald Trump.

A 16-year drought has sent water levels at the river's most important reservoir, Lake Mead, to their lowest point since it was first filled in the 1930s, threatening supply cuts for 40 million people across seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. It’s also raising the stakes for the two countries as they try to hammer out an extension of a four-year-old agreement on how to share the water.

That agreement expires at the end of 2017, but negotiators who have worked for years are pressing to finish a new pact before President Barack Obama leaves office — or put at risk years of fruitful collaboration on the sharing of cross-border water supplies that are vital to both countries."

Annie Snider reports for Politico November 26, 2016.