Western Water

The federal government declared a water shortage for much of the Southwest last week, resulting in the first ever mandatory cutbacks for some who draw from the Colorado River. As two decades of drought, increased demand and climate change cut deep into the West’s water supply, the region is looking ahead to a future where supplies might drop further still.

Federal officials declared a first-ever water shortage for the lower Colorado River, triggering mandatory cutbacks for some users. Ongoing drought across the West, increased demand and the wide-reaching effects of climate change have steadily reduced water levels in the nation’s largest reservoirs. Usage restrictions will begin in January, and are expected to be felt most sharply by farmers in Arizona.

The massive reservoir on the Colorado River hit a new historic low on July 24, dropping below 3,555.1 feet in elevation. The previous low was set in 2005. The last time the reservoir was this low was in 1969, when it first filled.

Emergency water releases from reservoirs upstream of Lake Powell have begun to preserve the nation’s second-largest reservoir’s ability to generate hydroelectric power.

Another dry year has left the waterway that supplies 40 million people in the Southwest parched. A prolonged 21-year warming and drying trend is pushing the nation’s two largest reservoirs to record lows. For the first time this summer, the federal government will declare a shortage.

As drought strains much of the state, and tens of thousands of newcomers move to the busy Front Range each year, towns like Severance are thinking about growth – and water usage – in ways that they never have before.

As the Western U.S. steels itself for another summer of dry, fire-prone conditions, some are turning their attention to recovering from last season’s blazes.

Water supplies are so tight in the West that most states keep close watch over every creek, river, ditch and reservoir. A complex web of laws and rules is meant to ensure that all the water that falls within a state’s boundaries is put to use or sent downstream to meet the needs of others.

Farmers in parts of the West are experiencing some of the worst drought conditions in nearly two decades. The dryness presents challenges in keeping a farm or ranch viable, and in how farmers deal with mental health concerns.

Declining levels at the second-largest reservoir in the U.S. have spurred officials in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico to search for ways to prop it up.