…. More than 40 million people from seven states and Mexico depend on water from the Colorado River Basin to drink, irrigate crops, generate electricity and recreate, a demand that is greater than the river system can bear.  Historically, variations in snowpack would correlate with the amount of available water in the river come summertime. But since 2000, less and less snowmelt has been making its way into the Colorado River, and water levels in the river have not tracked as closely with variations in precipitation. A new study from the University of Washington, published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, offers a clue as to why this may be: increased evaporation and decreased springtime rainfall is leading parched plants and trees to suck up much of the snow melt before it ever reaches the river. 

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