Amid a historic 20 year mega-drought in the southwestern United States, the Department of the Interior announced this week that urgent actions aimed to improve and protect the long-term stability of the Colorado River System are needed. The watershed supplies water for upwards of 40 million people in the western United States and Mexico. According to the Colorado River Basin August 2022 24-month study, the two largest reservoirs in the region—Lake Mead and Lake Powell—are only about a quarter full. 

On Monday, the seven basin states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—missed a deadline set in June by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to reach a voluntary agreement on how to reduce water use in the region by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet, or up to a third of the Colorado River's annual average flow.