COLORADO RIVER: Lake Powell, Lake Mead, and Southern California’s Water Dilemma

Two years ago, the Colorado River Lower Basin states united to conserve an extra 3 million acre-feet of water by 2026, aiming to stabilize Lake Powell and Lake Mead while crafting the post-2026 guidelines for managing the river. With last year’s near-normal snowpack and conservation efforts ahead of schedule, success seemed within reach.  However, over the last few months, this year has become anything but normal, and the system is looking to be anything but stabilized.