The Colorado River is tapped out.
Another dry year has left the watershed that supplies 40 million people in the Southwest parched. A prolonged 21-year warming and drying trend is pushing the nation s two largest reservoirs to record lows. For the first time, a shortage is expected to be declared by the federal government, this summer.
The 1,450-mile-long waterway acts as a drinking water supply, a hydroelectric power generator and an irrigator of desert crop fields across seven Western U.S. states and two in Mexico. Scientists are increasingly certain that the only way forward is to rein in demands on the river s water.
Hoover And Glenn Canyon Dams Are Low On Water, Threatening Power Production
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Two of America s biggest hydroelectric generators, Hoover and Glenn Canyon dams, are in danger of reducing output due to historically low water levels.
Transcript
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: The water levels behind the Colorado River s biggest dams are at record lows, and that means the historic drought in Western states will probably start showing up in people s energy bills because those dams can t produce as much electricity. Luke Runyon from member station KUNC has more.
LUKE RUNYON, BYLINE: Standing at the base of Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, the Colorado River flows out of Lake Powell cold and clear. On the canyon walls, moss grows where water from behind the dams seeps slowly through the red sandstone, and the air buzzes with electricity.
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