The Guardian - US issues western water cuts as drought leaves Colorado River near ‘tipping point’
After more than two decades of drought, the Colorado River Basin is reaching a crisis point. The Guardian has recently published a short article which gives a concise update on the situation, the various states and stakeholders who will be impacted by federal water restrictions, and the widespread impacts that will be felt throughout Western US states because of these restrictions.
This is a prime example of how medium and long-term climate trends can wreak havoc on hydrologic systems. What do Canadian river basins have in store?
Click here to read the article on The Guardian.
“After western US states failed to reach agreements to reduce water use from the beleaguered Colorado River, the federal government stepped in on Tuesday, issuing cuts that will affect two states and Mexico. [...] “The system is approaching a tipping point,” the Bureau of Reclamation commissioner, M Camille Calimlim Touton, said during a news conference on Tuesday, adding that urgent action was required. “Protecting the system means protecting the people of the American west.”
The new cuts will reduce Arizona’s water share by 21%, Nevada’s by 8% and Mexico’s by 7%, but officials are concerned more reductions will be needed. The cuts will place officials in those states under extraordinary pressure to plan for a hotter, drier future and a growing population.
Hundreds of thousands of acres of US farmland is expected to be left fallow across the country’s breadbasket, putting a crunch on food produced domestically [and] the crisis has left the water level at Lake Mead, the nation’s largest manmade reservoir, less than a quarter full. [...] The 24m-acre-feet Lake Powell, meanwhile, is enduring a similar catastrophe, with the Guardian reporting in July that energy production could halt as soon as July 2023.”