that supposed mark twain quote, the worst drought in 1,200 years has water managers in seven states, 30 tribal nations and mexico fighting over every precious drop. but to date the states collectively have not identified and adopted specific actions of sufficient magnitude that would stabilize the system. that was the commissioner in charge of dams and reservoirs admitting that upper and lower basin states have failed to agree on ways to cut their water use by up to 25%. i think ultimately the states are going to realize they re playing russian roulette, and they re going to have to come to their senses. for almost 30 years, pat mulroy led an aggressive conservation campaign to tear up lawns, reuse wastewater and scold water wasters. can t water in the middle of the day, ma am, you ll be fined
mandatory cuts that will get really severe? absolutely. i am genuinely worried about the possibility of this system hitting. dead pool is when mead gets low enough to crash in phoenix and mesa it was the biggest worry. but now it s worse. and the feds are begging western states to cut up to 1 out of every 4 gallons consumed. i know from our reporting there was some western water managers frustrated that the bureau wasn t tougher. they said you work it out or we ll work it out for you. what are your thoughts on that? it is disappointing because the longer that we have to endure the uncertainty the more at risk the entire system is, and i don t envy the federal government. the biden administration. they have some really tough choices to make. know electriced official wants
19 inches, but it s still 25 feet lower than it was at this point last year. we re getting dangerously close to deadpool here, anderson. you can t send any water downstream, it wouldn t generate any power. it would have huge economic implications. the mission in the year term is to try to save the system in the next couple of years. and to talk about the infrastructure projects we ll need to keep people alive in this new world. how are officials trying to cut water usage? reporter: that s some encouragement not to water in the middle of the day. maybe think about tearing up your lawn. but that doesn t go nearly far enough. governor newsom in california asked for voluntary cutbacks, they went nowhere near what they needed. water managers of the states are frustrated, they were hoping the bureau of reclamation, the feds, would come in and be the tough parent and say, no, we re going to cut this by a couple of
gets lower and lower and lower. if you think like a martini glass, the lower you get, the tighter that water gets. las vegas years ago saw this day coming, they spent a billion dollars putting a straw to the bottom of that martini glass to protect themselves. now it s a fight over the rice over the lower basement states, arizona nevada that have the storage with these reservoirs, and california which is the thirsty east of all. the water managers were hoping the feds would kind of bring the hammer down and tell them that their new mandatory cuts, everyone had to adjust to. that didn t happen. the feds are looking in the states, states are blaming each other, and water keeps evaporating. one precious drop at a time. don? bill, thank you. so, so said. cnn learning the former president is releasing surveillance footage from mar-a-lago search, what it could mean for the investigation. that s next.
triggering these agreed upon new cutbacks here. they got some monsoon rains recently, you might have seen the flooding at the imperial palace in vegas. that was enough to raise the water levels here about 19 inches, but it s still 25 feet lower than it was at this point last year. we are getting dangerously close to the debt pool here, anderson. in which it doesn t generate power, you can t send any water downstream, that would have huge economic implications. so, the mission in the near term is try to save the system in the next couple of years and talk about the infrastructure projects you are going to need to keep people alive in this new world. and how are officials trying to cut water usage? well, there s some encouragement that no water in the middle of the day and maybe think about tearing up your lawn, but that doesn t go nearly far enough. governor newsom in california asked for voluntary cutbacks. they went nowhere near what they needed. that s why there s some frustrat