"A group of experts says Western states urgently need to cut water use to avert a deepening crisis on the Colorado River. The river’s major reservoirs are less than one-third full, and another dry winter would push reservoirs toward critically low levels."
"The Colorado River’s massive reservoirs are now so depleted that another dry year could send them plunging to dangerously low levels, a group of prominent scholars warns in a new analysis.
The researchers are urging the Trump administration to intervene and impose substantial cutbacks in water use across the seven states that rely on the river — California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
“We’ve got a real problem, and we ought to deal with it sooner rather than later,” said Jack Schmidt, director of Utah State University’s Center for Colorado River Studies, who co-authored the analysis. “Everybody needs to be looking at ways to cut right now.”
The Colorado River provides water for cities from Denver to San Diego, 30 Native tribes and farming communities from the Rocky Mountains to northern Mexico."
Ian James reports for the Los Angeles Times September 14, 2025.
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