government proposed deep cuts to water supply for Arizona, California and Nevada during dry years in a new plan it released on ‌Friday to operate the drought-stricken Colorado River. Lawsuits from states could challenge the federal intervention and could mean years more uncertainty for a river that provides water to one in 10 Americans, irrigates land producing 15% of U.S. food output and generates power for 6 million people in seven states. Those seven states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, California and Nevada, known as the ​basin states — were unable to agree on how to share the water after over three years of talks to replace a plan that expires ​this year. Bureau of Reclamation intervened with a 10-year proposal through 2036 designed to provide flexibility to operate the ⁠river’s two largest energy-producing reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Mead…

“This framework provides the flexibility to respond to changing hydrologic conditions while preserving the opportunity for the Basin States to continue working toward durable, consensus-based solutions,” Secretary of ​the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement. The plan sets limits on how the river would be operated, and envisages water shortages of up to 3 million acre-feet per year in the three Lower Basin states. That is nearly twice the reduction in water supplies the Lower Basin states proposed on May 1 of 1.6 million acre-feet per year through ​2028. In a statement, the Arizona Department of Water Resources called the Bureau of Reclamation proposal “unacceptable” and noted it did not require cuts of the four Upper Basin ​states.