Lake Mead’s “bathtub ring” (July 2022)
Photo credit: Tom Yulsman

Colorado River Basin Crisis (start time: 5:31–scroll down for arrow)

The Colorado River is the life blood for about 40 million inhabitants. And it’s in dire straights. The river’s two reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are at historically low levels, due primarily to climate change and overuse. The water-supply crisis is affecting Colorado and six other states, as well as some 30 tribes, that rely on the Colorado River for water and electricity. Last month the federal government ordered the seven states to jointly come up with a plan to dramatically cut their consumption from the river. They have until mid-August to deliver–or they’ll face mandatory cuts. Host Susan Moran discusses with two guests the underlying causes of the water crisis, what’s at stake, and potential solutions. Jennifer Gimbel is a senior water policy scholar at the Colorado Water Center, located at Colorado State University. Formerly she was an undersecretary of the Department of Interior, and executive director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board.  Tom Yulsman is a science journalist focusing on climate change. He runs the ImaGeo visual blog for Discover magazine, and he is director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at CU Boulder.

Some relevant resources for more info and the basin’s water crisis:

*  2022 Science paper, What Will It Take To Stabilize the Colorado River?

* Fresh Water News (Water Education Colorado)

* The Water Desk

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

Headline Contributors: Beth Bennett, Shelley Schlender