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Arizona Prepares to Break Open Its Water Bank

In late April 1996, Lake Powell sat at an elevation of 3,673 feet — just 27 feet below its maximum capacity. At that time of plenty, Arizona lawmakers worried that the state wasn’t using its full share of Colorado River water.

Instead of potentially ceding those flows to California, the state opened a kind of liquid piggy bank, storing away a share of its water for an uncertain future.

The Colorado River is in Crisis, and it’s Getting Worse Every Day

The Colorado River is in crisis — one deepening by the day.

It is a powerhouse: a 1,450-mile waterway that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Sea of Cortez, serving 40 million people in seven U.S. states, 30 federally recognized tribes and Mexico. It hydrates 5 million acres of agricultural land and provides critical habitat for rare fish, birds and plants.

Colorado’s Snowpack Is Melting at a “Ridiculous” Rate

Colorado didn’t see enough snow this winter to fully recover from the ongoing megadrought and now what snow the state did see is melting too quickly, experts say.

“If we continue on at the rate we’re at we’re looking at probably a complete meltout by the end of May or beginning of June,” Becky Bolinger, of the Colorado Climate Center, told The Denver Post.

That’s too soon. By several weeks, she said. So drought conditions are likely to worsen, exacerbating what officials are anticipating could be the worst wildfire year in Colorado’s history.

California, Arizona and Nevada Face Major Water Cutbacks From the Colorado River

Because of the megadrought that’s gripping the southwestern United States, the federal government is cutting back how much water it delivers to California, Arizona and Nevada by a lot, about as much as Las Vegas uses in a year. It’s something water managers never thought they’d have to do. Alex Hager reports on the Colorado River from member station KUNC in Greeley, Colo., and joins us now to explain what’s going on. So decades ago, the U.S. built huge dams on the Colorado River specifically to store water as insurance against droughts. Why isn’t that system working now?

Dry as a Bone: Las Vegas Enforces New Water Restrictions

The megadrought gripping the Western United States is widening.

Fifty-seven percent of the country and 100% of Nevada is in some level of drought, and nowhere is it as obvious as along the Colorado River.

In the Southwestern U.S., the massive Lake Mead Reservoir near Las Vegas is not as massive as it used to be. The water level has dropped to near-record-low levels.

California, Utah and Other Western States Face Scary Wildfire Season

Northern California is suffering when it comes to extreme drought conditions, very little snow and a wildfire season predicted to start much earlier.

Last year, more than 2.5 million acres burned in that state, and officials fear it could be as bad this year, if not worse.

An Axios report noted that already this year, the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for wildfires.

CA Snowpack Is a Fraction of What It Should Be. Expect Water Restrictions

Record temperatures are expected to hit California starting Thursday — right as details emerge about the megadrought ailing the state. As it turns out, the western United States is the driest it’s ever been in at least 1200 years, according to a UCLA analysis.

California’s Sierra snowpack sits at just 38% of its average, which spells trouble for the amount of water the state will have access to this year, says Andrew J. Schwartz. He’s the lead scientist and station manager at University of California, Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab.

Santa Barbara to Get Only 5% of State Water

Ray Stokes has never been one for hair-on-fire histrionics. After serving 26 years as the resident Wizard of Oz running the Central Coast Water Authority — which conveys roughly 25,000 acre-feet of water a year from the rivers of Northern California to the spigots of Santa Barbara County — Stokes knows a thing or two about droughts. The one California now finds itself caught in might be the worst. “It’s very drastic,” stated the usually understated Stokes.

Water Authority Confident in Local Water Supply, But Still Urges Conservation Amid Drought

California’s Department of Water Resources Friday announced that due to the ongoing statewide drought, it must reduce the State Water Project allocation to 5% of requested supplies for 2022, but San Diego County Water Authority officials said they remain confident in the region’s supply.

DWR previously set the allocation at 15% but a historically dry January and February, with no significant storms forecast for March, required a reduction in the allocation to conserve available water supply, a statement from the state agency read.

Local water supply

“Today’s announcement about reduced allocations from the State Water Project brings into focus the increasing challenges created by the megadrought,” said Sandra L. Kerl, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority. “This is an emergency felt throughout the state and we strongly support continued conservation.”

“Reduced water deliveries from the State Water Project highlight how the San Diego region’s conservation ethic combined with investments in drought-resilient supplies are paying off,” Kerl said. “The region uses very little water from the Bay-Delta, and even with reduced allocations, the Water Authority has reliable water supplies for 2022 and beyond.”

In addition to the 5% allocation, DWR will also provide any unmet critical health and safety needs of the 29 water agencies that contract to receive State Water Project supplies.

Carlsbad Desalination Plant Shields Region From Megadrought

As the worst drought in 1,200 years grips the West, the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant is protecting the San Diego region with 50 million gallons a day of drought-proof water.

Completed in 2015, the plant was built before the period of increasing inflation that’s driving up prices for water infrastructure projects that are just starting. That means the desal plant is safeguarding the region’s economy and quality of life today at a lower cost than it would be to build now.