Cuts To Lower Colorado River Basin

This is an excerpt of the August 23, 2021 episode of What's Up With Water. The implications of the drying American Southwest and the limits to the region’s water supply are increasingly apparent. The federal government marked the changing conditions recently, declaring a Tier 1 shortage for the lower Colorado River basin. The shortage declaration will force Arizona and Nevada, as well as Mexico to further reduce their withdrawals from the river in 2022. California, the other lower basin state, is not affected. The declaration also sets the stage for more drastic measures in the near future since Lake Mead is projected to fall another 30 feet over the next two years. Mead and Powell, the basin’s largest reservoirs, are the lowest they have been since they were first filled.