Michelle D’urbano
SEVEN states in the Southwest US are legally allowed to take water from the Colorado river: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. But with the once-mighty river now running at historic lows, the states were given a federal deadline to voluntarily agree to dramatic cuts in their use. On 31 January, they missed it. Meanwhile, the low river flow has already slashed the power output of the iconic Hoover dam – once able to produce 2080 megawatts of hydropower, its generation has been cut in half as of June 2022.
Overuse and climate change have reduced …
Article amended on 10 March 2023
We clarified the former output of the Hoover dam.
