Colorado River in crisis – The West faces a water reckoning
Over the last several years, managers of water agencies have reached deals to take less water from the river. But those reductions haven’t been nearly enough to halt the river’s spiral toward potential collapse. As Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, continues to decline toward “dead pool” levels, the need to rein in water demands is growing urgent. Efforts to adapt will require difficult decisions about how to deal with the reductions and limit the damage to communities, the economy and the river’s already degraded ecosystems. Adapting may also drive a fundamental rethinking of how the river is managed and used, redrawing a system that is out of balance. This reckoning with the reality of the river’s limits is about to transform the landscape of the Southwest.
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- Los Angeles Times: Lake Powell’s decline and the Colorado River crisis
- Arizona Department of Water Resources: How A Productive Spate Of Winter Moisture May (Or May Not) Impact Drought In The Southwest
- Los Angeles Times: The Colorado River - Where the west quenches its thirst
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