RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Colorado River basin states and the federal government are gathered in Las Vegas at the annual Colorado River Water Users Association conference, where discussions and negotiations are happening for ways to stabilize the nation’s largest reservoirs in the short term.

A recent historic agreement was made by the federal government to fund restoration projects at the Salton Sea as one way of keeping water in Lake Mead.

Under the agreement, the federal government is supplying California $250 million via the Inflation Reduction Act, in exchange for local California water agencies to conserve 400,000 acre feet of water annually starting next year.