States Propose , Competing Plans to Help , Lake Mead Water Levels Recover.<br />'Newsweek' reports that states in the lower Colorado River <br />basin have proposed solutions as water levels at Lake Mead <br />and Lake Powell inch closer to dead pool status.<br />Water cuts have already been <br />implemented and increased in <br />severity in Arizona and Nevada in 2023.<br />The cuts have left western states scrambling to come up <br />with a solution that preserves their access to Colorado<br />River water while also aiding the reservoirs' recovery.<br />'Newsweek' reports that increased water use and water <br />evaporation from global warming have contributed to <br />the declining water levels amid a historic 20-year drought.<br />Despite torrential rains and a higher-than-normal <br />snowpack melt, experts say water use must <br />be cut for the reservoirs to recover. .<br />So far, seven states in the Colorado River <br />basin, including California, have proposed , water conservation plans.<br />The best way to avoid conflict <br />and ensure that we can put water <br />in the river right away is through <br />a voluntary approach, not putting <br />proposals that sidestep the Law <br />of the River and ignore California's <br />senior right and give no respect to that, JB Hamby, Colorado River Board of <br />California Chairman, via Associated Press.<br />'Newsweek' reports that up to 80% of water <br />from the Colorado River is used for <br />agricultural purposes, including in California.<br />According to University of California, Davis professor <br />Jay Lund, humans need to reduce their water use, <br />even at the cost of fallowing local agriculture. .<br />We might get lucky with the weather, <br />but the idea of the system recovering <br />is really hard unless you reduce <br />water use in that basin, Jay Lund, Professor University of California, Davis, via 'Newsweek'
