Lower Colorado River States Used Less Water in 2019 Than Any Year Since 1986

"Use of Colorado River water in the three states of the river’s lower basin fell to a 33-year low in 2019, amid growing awareness of the precarity of the region’s water supply in a drying and warming climate," reports Brett Walton.

"Arizona, California, and Nevada combined to consume just over 6.5 million acre-feet last year, according to an annual audit from the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that oversees the lower basin. That is about 1 million acre-feet less than the three states are entitled to use under a legal compact that divides the Colorado River’s waters."

The good water management news comes a few weeks after a report provided evidence of an ongoing megadrought in the American Southwest, likely to impact growth and livability in the large region as climate change deepens. 

Congress approved the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan to resolve potential conflicts between states, but the ongoing thirst for Colorado River water is apparent in a plan to divert water from Lake Powell to St. George, Utah (Utah is one of the seven upper basin states, according to the 1922 Colorado River Compact).