As Lake Meade, the US’s largest man-made reservoir, nears its lowest level on record, the federal government is considering a Water Shortage Declaration for the Colorado River, which would restrict the amount of water distributed to agriculture and, if the drought continues, residential usage as well. The drought the American southwest is currently facing is the worst in modern history.
Currently, Lake Meade sits at an abysmal 37% of capacity, a scary number for those 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River for recreation and industry.
The last time Lake Meade was full to capacity was in 2000.
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One river cannot sustain the growth of population across the Southwest desert. It is not accurate to talk of droughts when the issue is the area using the water is a natural desert. Part of the so called drought is caused by the overuse of water lowering the ground water table so that there is less replenishment each year. The Colorado River simply does not carry enough water and never could carry enough to sustain the growth in the desert. Western Rockies snowpack can never provide enough water .
And,the answer is not the controversial canal to connect the Columbia to the Colorado.
The answer is that there has to be either population caps or water use caps for LA, Phoenix, Las Vegas , and all those cities that only exist by pulling water into a desert.