Corporate Pledges and Mandatory Cuts in the Colorado River Basin

Corporate entities, including Amazon, are participating in the Colorado River Basin Collaborative to address severe resource depletion in the Lower Basin. The collaborative includes companies like Aldi and The Coca-Cola Foundation, with members planning to invest a total of $100 million over two years. Amazon has pledged $20 million to the effort. This initiative follows the federal government's announcement that mandatory water cuts are being imposed on the shares of the Colorado River for the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada.

The mandatory cuts affect the river shares for the Lower Basin states, which are facing existential threats to their water users. Nevada has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the government's assertion of legal authority to reduce the state's river share by 71 percent. The corporate pledges are framed as a commitment to sustainability alongside the company's overall climate pledges.

A Lower Basin three-state agreement was reached, alongside a co-authored call for river management action due to severe resource depletion.