There are plenty of places upstream from Lake Mead that could cut off your water supply - Glen Canyon Dam is one I know of. And Colorado could simply take everything if you don’t get Colorado as well. (eta: forgot you want Arizona, which solves the Glen Canyon issue, but Colorado could still cause you problems).
New rule logic: I’d still stick with the Northeast. New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. (and CT / NJ / DE are freebies). I’d been thinking PA or Ohio but that leaves a big hole and those Massachusetts folks might cause trouble. Water is not a problem - NY borders on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Inland water transit is handled by those and the rest of the Saint Lawrence Seaway (assuming we maintain good relations with Canada). Plenty of ocean ports in that stretch as well, for international commerce.
New Hampshire and Vermont really ought to count as one - Vermont really has nothing much to offer strategically, aside from a rather high ratio of border crossings to land area.
I could see dumping NH / VT / ME in favor of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland , which also gives me Delaware. Lots of natural resources in PA; I know less about Ohio. MD / DE give me more ports, also.
Not bloody likely. That water has no place to go, and they couldn’t afford to dam any of the tributaries. Anyplace lower on the river and you have lots of canyonland to fill. Colorado, not so much. That’s why i left them off my list, decent weed laws or no.
those Massachusetts folks might cause trouble
We absolutely would. It’s our special skill.
I personally would chose MA, RI, NH, ME, and VT, as was said by someone else. I gotta kick one of the six so CT gets to hang out with NY. I’ve spent most of my life in these five so I would be most personally inconvenienced. We’d have a nice long border with Canada. We could knock some sense into NH and rural Maine. We have the most colleges and universities so we’d have the elite’s kids in a hostile takeover, or have them generally have to be nice to us in a bitter divorce. Sure, there are other good schools elsewhere but we have the highest concentration.
NM. Had my geography momentarily screwy.
ETA: but, since I’m here…
I’d probably end up taking some combo including CA, but I’m intrigued with the idea of WI, MI, OH, PA, NY for a Great Lakes + NYC kind of thing.
Maybe swap MA for WI
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.
Pros: Eight, nine, and twelve in population (and all in the top 23). Excellent coastline and harbors. Excellent higher education in place (UVA, UNC, Duke, Emory, GA Tech). Has been a bit red but trending purple to blue (except for South Carolina). Fast growing industry. Excellent agricultural land. Mostly good weather.
Cons: Well, we’d have to put up border protection at the Alabama and Florida state lines (especially the FL line). But we have plenty of military bases.
Just don’t call it a “confederacy!”
Oh, and we could use the District of Columbia for a capital. No one else would need it or want it at that point.