States sign short-term Colorado River drought plan, but global warming looms over long-term solutions
The main issue at hand is drought, which has been a long-term malady. They got some relief this past winter with heavier snows than average, but the water levels of Lake Mead are getting low. The arid, desert climate of the Southwest isn't really meant to support such large populations.
Representatives of seven Western states and the federal government signed a landmark deal on Monday laying out potential cuts in water deliveries through 2026 to reduce the risks of the river’s reservoirs hitting critically low levels.
Yet even as they celebrated the deal’s completion on a terrace overlooking Hoover Dam and drought-stricken Lake Mead, state and federal water officials acknowledged that tougher negotiations lie ahead. Their task starting next year will be to work out new rules to re-balance the chronically overused river for years to come.
Figuring out how to do that will be complicated because the Colorado River, which supplies water for vast farmlands and more than 40 million people, is managed under a nearly century-old system of allocations that draws out more than what flows in from rain and snow in an average year.
The main issue at hand is drought, which has been a long-term malady. They got some relief this past winter with heavier snows than average, but the water levels of Lake Mead are getting low. The arid, desert climate of the Southwest isn't really meant to support such large populations.