With the Colorado River reservoirs continuing to decline, federal officials announced plans Friday to revise their current rules for dealing with shortages and will pursue a new agreement to achieve larger reductions in water use throughout the Southwest.
With the Colorado River reservoirs continuing to decline, federal officials announced plans Friday to revise their current rules for dealing with shortages and will pursue a new agreement to achieve larger reductions in water use throughout the Southwest.
The announcement by the Biden administration represents a renewed push in trying to scale back water use along the river to bring demands more into line with supply in the face of a 23-year megadrought worsened by global heating.
The Interior Department said with the water level dropping at Lake Powell, operations may need to change at Glen Canyon Dam to release less water, affecting downstream flows in the Grand Canyon and accelerating the decline of Lake Mead. The department said to protect public health and safety and the integrity of the system, releases from Hoover Dam may also need to be reduced—which would shrink the amounts of water flowing to California, Arizona and Mexico.
Federal officials in June called for the seven states that rely on the Colorado River to come up with plans to drastically reduce annual water diversions by about 15% to 25% regionwide.
