The deadline on a new Colorado River water use deal was set for last November, but got pushed back after an initial agreement was not reached. As the second deadline looms, the U.S. government has retained the right to impose a contract on the states. “Water fundamentally underscores all aspects of life in the American Southwest,” said John Berggren, regional policy manager at Western Resource Advocates, an environmental policy group. Governors from six Colorado River Basin states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and a high-level California representative met late January in Washington, D.C., for an unprecedented crunch-time negotiation. The meeting with the U.S. Department of Interior took place behind closed doors, but no agreement was made, with no indication that the Feb. 14 deadline will be met.