Wyoming and five other Western states that share the Colorado River Basin with California have told Gov. Gray Davis that they cannot accept the latest version of a landmark deal aimed at weaning the nation's most populous state from its excessive reliance on the river.

The conservation plan that would ease California back by some 800,000 acre-feet to a total of 4.4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water was redrafted this spring. For decades, California has made free use of unallocated waters in the system, far in excess of what interstate water compacts allow.

"The redrafted plan actually gives us less certainty than we had a year ago," said Patrick Tyrrell, state engineer for Wyoming and signatory to the letter that was sent to Davis.

Representatives of Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah signed a letter Tuesday to Davis outlining their problems with the complex deal under consideration by four Southern California water agencies.

Approval by the six states is crucial to California's hopes of reaching the long-awaited Colorado River-sharing deal sought by the U.S. Interior Department.

The six states found that the 75-year deal, the Quantification Settlement Agreement, has exit clauses "that will undermine its permanence or viability."

Tyrrell and his fellow water officials warned Davis that the deal also should not be subject to "endless litigation," such as the ongoing court battle between the Interior Department and the water board in the Imperial Valley, the state's biggest user of Colorado River water. The water board is fighting the Interior Department's attempts to cut its massive water supply.

One of the California water problems closely watched by Tyrrell and others is the fate of the Salton Sea, on the northern edge of the Imperial Valley.

Created by a massive Colorado River flood, the Salton Sea has become a vital stop-over for migratory birds. Highly dependent on excess water flows from the Imperial Valley, the Salton Sea is drying up. That in turn is triggering environmental lawsuits to protect threatened and endangered species in the Salton Sea, Tyrrell explained.

"If Colorado River water is applied to environmental uses, Wyoming would have a structural concern with the compact," he explained. Under the Colorado River Compact, California and other states can use Colorado River water for "beneficial and consumptive use," which as currently defined does not apply to conservation use, he said.

A spokesman for Davis, whose aides helped broker a revised deal among the four water agencies in March, welcomed the letter and said it was simply a matter of "clarification."

"We are definitely working to address the issues they identified," said the spokesman, Byron Tucker.

"Overall, we view this as a positive step. Now that we have their issues in writing, we feel we'll be able to avoid potential roadblocks in the future."

The four Southern California agencies met Wednesday in Sacramento with aides to the governor and Bennett Raley, the assistant Interior secretary responsible for Western water issues.

In a telephone interview, Raley said the six states must be satisfied before approval of the deal among four Southern California water agencies that involves a massive water transfer from Imperial Valley farmers to San Diego.

The deal is also California's ticket to getting back river water that it lost this year.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton cut the amount of water California can draw from the river this year by 15 percent as punishment for the state's failure to reach an agreement by Dec. 31. The state will be able to draw the surplus water for 15 years when a deal is approved.