A framework that outlines a potential plan for federal water regulators tasked with making unprecedented cuts to an overused watershed that serves roughly 40 million people throughout the Southwest was made public by six of the seven U.S. states that depend on the Colorado River. Due to years of drought, structural imbalances in how the Colorado River is used has been exposed. The proposal reveals a united front among six states over how the cuts should be divided but shows unresolved issues among the seven states. The plan failed to gain the support of California but regardless John Entsminger, who leads the Southern Nevada Water Authority, stated the six-state plan was a “positive step forward.”