Feds want to study Glen Canyon Dam modifications, as states’ deadline for Colorado River water cuts expires
At a Senate committee hearing on June 14, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton sat before federal lawmakers and delivered a grave ultimatum on the Colorado River. Without significant cuts to water use, she warned, Lake Powell and Lake Mead — the nation’s two largest reservoirs — could fall so low that hydropower production could cease in the near future. At that point, the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages both reservoirs, would struggle to deliver water to the majority of the 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River.