by Wen Tsui
LOS ANGELES, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The seven Colorado River Basin states remained divided over reducing water use as Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two largest reservoirs in the United States by full capacity, fell to record-low levels, said recent U.S. media reports.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was preparing water-delivery cuts as the deadlock continued, U.S. broadcaster CBS News reported Sunday.
California, Arizona and Nevada have proposed cutting their water use by about 1.6 million acre-feet, or roughly 500 billion gallons, annually over the next two years. However, federal officials are considering imposing cuts nearly twice that amount, said the report.
The report noted that the major cuts "would likely mean higher costs for cities trying to secure water, tighter restrictions on outdoor water and significant changes for farmers who use the majority of the river's supply."
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said the Colorado River, which rises in the Rocky Mountains and ends at the Gulf of California in Mexico, supplies water to more than 40 million people and supports cities, farms, tribal communities and hydropower generation.
Reclamation data showed Lake Powell at 23 percent of its available capacity on July 26 and Lake Mead at about 27 percent of its capacity.
The agency projected that by next spring, Lake Powell's water level will be just about half a meter above the minimum power pool level required for the Glen Canyon Dam to continue generating power.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, held behind Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam, have stored water and generated electricity for generations.
With previous agreements governing the reservoirs set to expire at the end of 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior has published post-2026 alternatives and said it is prepared to determine new rules without unanimous agreement from the Basin states.
The Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming said their users already receive less water when mountain runoff declines. The Upper Colorado River Commission favored rules tied to available water, while a May proposal from the three Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada called for reductions by all seven states.
The dispute is rooted in the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which divided the river between an Upper Basin and a Lower Basin. Reclamation's 2021 climate assessment said water apportioned to the U.S. states and Mexico exceeds the river's average supply.
The assessment said Powell and Mead were nearly full when the drought began around 2000, adding that the 2000-2019 period was the driest two decades in more than a century of recorded measurements.
Reclamation said warmer temperatures, changing snowpack and shifts in runoff threaten future supplies. It warned that demand would exceed supply without timely action.
Agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of Colorado River water use, according to Reclamation's climate assessment.
The analysis said repeated shortages could permanently close farms, particularly smaller operations. Such closures could reduce employment, business income and tax revenue in agriculture-dependent communities.
Southern Nevada has built a deep-water intake and a low-lake pumping station to preserve access to Mead, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Phoenix has invested in underground storage, system connections, diversified supplies and water reuse, according to city officials.
According to official data, 4.72 million visitors to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Rainbow Bridge National Monument spent 518.2 million dollars in nearby communities in 2024. Falling water has closed or restricted boat ramps and forced facilities to be moved or altered.
A 2018 federal study of 10 tribal nations found that they held some of the basin's most senior rights but diverted about half of them. It identified inadequate infrastructure, limited capital and shortages of reliable drinking water and sanitation as barriers to fuller use of the water.
Water-management researchers Brittany Fager, David Rosenberg and Erik Porse from Utah State University wrote in a paper in June that continued drawdown could eventually leave Lake Powell and Lake Mead unable to deliver water, generate hydropower or sustain infrastructure. ■