The state and the Colorado River Water Conservation District, a public water policy and planning agency on the Western Slope, have a new plan to protect mountain towns from losing their water supply during an unprecedented drought this summer. The District’s proposed emergency water supply plan was approved at the Colorado Water Conservation Board meeting on Wednesday. Colorado River District general manager Andy Mueller said that the Colorado River Basin is in a historic drought, and “safeguards that we put in place more than 80 years ago are failing.” The emergency plan would protect certain water users on the main stem of the Colorado River by replacing water that would have historically come from Green Mountain Reservoir. This year forecasts say it won’t fill up for the first time in history.

Other drought news around the West:

• The New York Times: A terrible winter for snow heads into a bleak summer of drought
• NBC12 (Phoenix): Low water at Lake Mead may cut power generation by fall, driving up costs for Arizonans
• Colorado Politics (Denver): Tapped: Denver residents face hotter, costlier summer under new drought rules
• Tucson Spotlight (Ariz.): Southern Arizona farmers test new tactics against drought​
• The Salt Lake Tribune: Can low-flow toilets and smart sprinklers solve Utah’s drought? Here’s the problem with the state’s recommendations.
• The Conversation: Blog: The US is seeing stronger storms, so why are droughts getting worse?