Colorado River

Cities in the arid Southwest are investing in water reuse technology, keeping more water in the system and bolstering drinking supplies in an area hit hard by drought.

States in the Colorado River Basin have failed to meet a federal deadline to conserve an unprecedented amount of water. The lack of consensus on how to wean off the river’s dwindling supply puts the water source for 40 million in the Southwest in jeopardy.

A summer deadline approaches for state leaders to agree on how to cut their water use from the Colorado River.

Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has asked seven western states to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before a deadline later this summer. This comes amid shrinking water levels in the nation's largest reservoirs.

A new study looking at how drought might affect the Colorado River Basin projects that states like Wyoming will have less available water.Researchers out of the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico explored several weather scenarios over the next 60 years in the Colorado River Basin.

As a drought-stricken region looks ahead to the summer, climate scientists are keeping an eye on high-mountain snowpack and its path to streams and rivers. Snow at high altitudes makes up the majority of the water in the Colorado River – where this past winter has left low totals.

A recent study shows that groundwater could decrease by a third in the Colorado River Basin in the next 30 years due to climate change.

In the Colorado River basin, agriculture accounts for about 80% of all the water used. As the river’s supply shrinks, and some farms start to make cutbacks, many are wondering if new technology can help with water conservation. Research suggests that it may not.

Nancy Caywood’s Pinal County farm should have a full field of alfalfa, but since the irrigation district shut off her water because of drought, her fields are empty and dry.

In Arizona, fields of crops and a growing sprawl of suburban homes mean a increased demand for water in the middle of the desert. Meeting that demand includes drawing from massive stores of water in underground aquifers. But some experts say groundwater is overtaxed, and shouldn’t be seen as a long-term solution for a region where the water supply is expected to shrink in the decades to come.