DENVER — Colorado and six other states have until November 11 to reach a deal on splitting Colorado River water. If they don't, the federal government could step in.

Being able to administer our own water is something Colorado and the rest of the Upper Basin takes a lot of pride in.

"We jealously guard and protect and we we really love the ability to kind of control our own destiny on the Colorado River," James Eklund, a water attorney for Taft, Sherman and Howard in Denver, said. "If we don't get to a deal and we don't get a new operational protocol, moving forward that was agreed upon by the seven states, will have effectively ceded that decision making authority to Washington and the federal government."

The Colorado River Basin is composed of seven states. The Upper Basin states a

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