The Colorado River, one of the most important river systems in the country, is drying up at an alarming rate.
The Colorado River has about 19% less volume than in the year 2000, Eberle said. By 2050, that number is expected to drop to 30% less than in 2000 if temperatures continue to rise, he added.divvied up the river's water -- as to how the water supplies from the Colorado River and its tributaries would be allocated -- among the seven states that rely on it.
At the time of its inception, those in charge of dividing the water resources assumed they were working with a 17-million acre-foot river, based off an extremely wet period in the beginning of the 20th century, Eberle said. These days, the river is closer to 12 or 11 million acre-feet, he said. Even in the absence of climate change, the Colorado River would likely be in decline due to the population growth, Zobel said.1 year of heavy precipitation isn't enough to solve problem
"The snowpack is amazing, and in some ways it kind of takes the foot off the gas in terms of how dire things could be," Eberle said, but added that water levels could just as easily dip to record lows a year from now if urgent measures aren't taken to conserve water. "If things can't recover in the good years, then the situation is still not looking good for the future," Zobel said.
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