It’s not news that large parts of the West’s water supply are drying up vis-a-vis the Colorado River.

A prolonged drought and rising temperatures have reduced lakes Powell and Mead, major reservoirs along the Colorado River that serve Arizona, to 29% and 32% full respectively as of Oct. 5, according to the website of the Central Arizona Project.

Experts agree overconsumption of the river’s dwindling resources is a big contributor to the problem of diminishing supply.

“If next year is a repeat of this year and water use of water remain the same, we estimate that consumptive use will exceed the natural flow in the Colorado River Basin by at least 3.6 million acre-feet,” according to a report published Sept. 11 by the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University predicts.

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