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Federal water managers are putting the nation’s largest dam in a precarious position as they try to balance out the Colorado River system in a year of record low snowpack.

Toward the bottom of the Bureau of Reclamation’s marquee announcement last week was a paragraph that said lower flows out of Lake Powell could reduce Hoover Dam’s hydroelectric power generation by about 40 percent as soon as this fall. According to projections, Lake Mead could fall nearly 30 feet in the next two years, more than 8 feet past the 2022 record low.

Scottsdale could lose as much as 80% of its Colorado River water supply in the coming years, according to an expert who spoke at a community water forum Monday night — a warning that left many residents concerned about the city’s long‑term water security.

Roughly 70% of Scottsdale’s municipal tap water comes from the Colorado River, a source that has been under increasing strain from drought, population growth, and shrinking reservoirs. That dependence, experts said, makes the city especially vulnerable.

An extreme marine heat wave is simmering the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, and experts are warning that it could affect coastal weather and ecosystems for months.

The ocean heat wave started forming at the end of last year but has worsened in recent weeks, according to readings from the Scripps Pier in La Jolla, which has broken more than 25 daily temperature records this year. The surface water temperature on Wednesday was 68.5 degrees — 7.7 degrees above average for the date. The sea bottom was 67.6 degrees, the hottest April 15 in about 100 years of records.

California dam safety regulations are set for a significant update after the California Water Commission approved changes proposed by the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) Wednesday, April 15,2026.

Under DWR’s Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD), the state proposed additions and modifications to existing dam safety regulations. The Division of Safety of Dams updated Articles Two, Five, Six and Seven to clarify the application process for dam alterations, repairs and removals, as well as time extensions and how unlawfully constructed dams are addressed. The changes also require the State Water Project to cover DSOD labor costs, eliminate hard copies of technical memorandums, allow written hearings and simplify the lien process.

In parched southern Texas, a yearslong drought has depleted Corpus Christi’s water reserves so gravely that the city is scrambling to prevent a shortage that could force painful cutbacks for residents and hobble the refineries and petrochemical plants in a major energy port.

Experts said the city didn’t expect such a bad drought, and new sources of reliable water didn’t arrive as expected. Those problems arose as the city increased its water sales to big industrial customers.