Policymakers have limited time to protect Lake Powell and Lake Mead, report says

A new report from Colorado River researchers found water levels at the nation’s two largest reservoirs are dropping fast and on track for dire consequences. The authors are calling on policymakers to move with urgency and protect Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

Negotiators are locked in talks about the future of those reservoirs after 2026, when the current rules for managing water there expire.

But the authors of this report say a dry year could bring levels so low, the reservoirs stop working before any new rules go into effect. Katherine Tara with the University of New Mexico is one of them. 

"The consequence of drawing down these reservoirs, and, you know, not conserving as a basin, is that people won't get water in a way that I don't think we've seen before," Tara said.

Tara says the seven states that use the Colorado River have to quickly agree on cutbacks to fix this. That work will be hard, but Tara says it is possible with collaboration. 

"The issue is that we're just, we just continue to draw down storage levels without working to build back storage. This isn't just a story about declining reservoir levels. This is a story about a bank account that's running dry," Tara said.

Negotiators are trying to plan for the future of those reservoirs after 2026, when the current rules for managing them expire. But the authors of this report say a dry year could bring water levels dangerously low before that deadline.