The Super El Niño Won’t Fix the West’s Water Crisis
The Colorado River, which provides water for 40 million people across seven states, is at a crisis point. The two largest reservoirs in the US, Lakes Mead and Powell, provide critical supply for states along the lower part of the river; both have hit multiple record low points this month.
Enter El Niño. The weather phenomenon, which is shaping up to be the strongest one of its kind in recorded history, may bring increased rain and snowfall to the southwestern United States this winter and spring. But experts caution that that precipitation might not be enough to stave off the slow-building disaster on the Colorado River. Even a best-case scenario this winter, involving a healthy snowpack in the region helping to temporarily replenish the river, would be no match for the longer-term problems plaguing it.
The Colorado River is fed primarily by snowmelt from the four states in the...
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