Current snowpack in the southern Sierra mountain range in California is well below average for the beginning of March, echoing a pattern among the entire “lower basin” of the Colorado River catchment, including most of the state of Arizona – plus the desert cities of Las Vegas and southern California, which pipe in water from the river over a complex system of aqueducts and canals.
With the south-west under the influence of a La Niña weather pattern, which typically results in drier winters across the southern United States, that means time is running out for the approximately 40 million people who depend on water from the Colorado River.
Pierce said states were “seemingly close to a long-term deal last fall” which would have brought significant federal investment in water management and conservation across the south-west in exchange for binding near-term commitments to reduce water withdrawals from the river.
This year’s rainy season is looking more and more like just a rainy week for southern California and other parts of the western US dependent on the Colorado River.
This year’s drought on the Colorado River isn’t new: the current episode of unusual dryness began in 2000, according to data from the US Geological Survey, and has been worsened by the rising temperatures associated with increasing global greenhouse gas emissions.
