Thursday Top of the Scroll: U.S. projections on drought-hit Colorado River grow more dire; California likely to get more cuts by 2025
The U.S. government released projections Wednesday that indicate an even more troubling outlook for a river that serves 40 million people in the American West. The Bureau of Reclamation recently declared the first-ever shortage on the Colorado River, which means Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will get less water than normal next year. By 2025, there’s a 66% chance Lake Mead, a barometer for how much river water some states get, will reach a level where California would be in its second phase of cuts. The nation’s most populated state has the most senior rights to river water.
Related articles:
- Courthouse News Service: Drought continues to strangle American West, with no relief in sight
- Reuters: Southwest U.S. drought, worst in a century, linked by NOAA to climate change
- KVPR: Water In The Colorado River Is Disappearing. Here’s How The Government Is Trying To Divide Up
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: Reclamation releases updated projections of Colorado River system conditions
- Durango Herald: Bennet and Romney raft Colorado River amid historic drought