The $1.2 billion deal to (temporarily) save the Colorado River

Three states agree to use less water from the Colorado River; the EU fines Meta $1.3 billion for Facebook data privacy violations. 

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Breakthrough on the Colorado

RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

• California, Arizona, and Nevada reached a deal with the Biden administration to use less water from the dwindling Colorado River and avert a crisis in the American West. [Associated Press / Suman Naishadham]
• The three states will cut 3 million acre-feet of water usage over three years, cutting consumption by about 13 percent from current levels. [Guardian / Oliver Milman]
• The US government will provide $1.2 billion to cities, Native American tribes, and water districts for achieving most of the cuts. The states will need to make major reductions in residential and agricultural water use. [New York Times / Christopher Flavelle]
• The agreement is a response to the Colorado River’s rapid depletion due to overuse, climate change, and prologued drought, putting water access for over 40 million people at risk. [CNBC / Emma Newburger]
• While federal funding and favorable snowpack conditions helped make the deal possible for now, even deeper water cuts may be necessary beyond 2026. [NPR / Kirk Siegler]

📍 If you read just one story
Vox explains the 100-year-old policy mistake threatening the Colorado River ecosystems and the American West. [Vox]

The biggest data privacy fine in EU history

• European Union regulators on Monday imposed a record-breaking fine of $1.3 billion on Meta for Facebook’s violation of data privacy laws. [CNN /  Hanna Ziady]
• The tech giant was found to have processed and stored data from Europeans in US servers despite a 2021 ruling outlawing such transfers over concerns about spying. [NPR / Mary Yang and Eleanor Beardsley]
• Meta intends to challenge the decision, and has asked the courts to suspend the order. That would grant the company five months to cease sharing European data and align its policies accordingly. [NYT / Adam Satariano]
• The data privacy fine against Meta is the largest since authorities levied 746 million euros on Amazon.com in 2021. [Reuters / Padraic Halpin]

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Monday, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott entered the crowded race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. [Vox / Ben Jacobs]

• Ireland says it will become the first country in the world to require cancer warnings and calorie count labels on alcohol products. [Guardian / Rory Carroll]
• President Joe Biden is likely to offer spending cuts to avert a US debt default in negotiations with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
• Russia claimed control over the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after nine brutal months of fighting. [Vox / Jen Kirby]

“Lots of people will say 3m acre-feet isn’t enough, but this is about stopping the system from immediately crashing.”

[Sharon Megdal, a water policy expert at the University of Arizona on the lower basin water deal / Guardian]

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