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Colorado River Drought Forces Water Cuts to Arizona and Nevada

HeadlineAug 17, 2022

Federal officials have announced a new round of water cuts to the states of Arizona and Nevada as an extreme drought has led to plummeting water levels on the Colorado River, which supplies water to 40 million people in the West. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest reservoirs on the river, are now about 75% empty. Seven states are part of the century-old Colorado River Compact, which determines how water is distributed among the states. Tanya Trujillo, an official at the U.S. Interior Department, said, “In order to avoid a catastrophic collapse of the Colorado River System and a future of uncertainty and conflict, water use in the Basin must be reduced.”

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