They sounded alarms about a coming Colorado River crisis. But warnings went unheeded
The Colorado River is approaching a breaking point, its reservoirs depleted and western states under pressure to drastically cut water use. It’s a crisis that scientists have long warned was coming. Years before the current shortage, scientists repeatedly alerted public officials who manage water supplies that the chronic overuse of the river combined with the effects of climate change would likely drain the Colorado’s reservoirs to dangerously low levels. But these warnings by various researchers — though discussed and considered by water managers — went largely unheeded.
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- Channel 8: It’s happened before: Lake Mead’s wild water level ride
- Circle of Blue: Blog - Five things to know about drought in the American West