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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 16 august 2017
US: ‘Zero’ chance of Colorado River water shortage in 2018

of a shortage, although of- would force officials to cut Arizona and Nevada were
ficials say farmers would be some water to Arizona and another big reason the
affected before cities. Nevada. No official short- largest constructed reser-
The report is a turnabout age has ever occurred. voir in the U.S. will not fall
from a year ago, when the Overall, the river serves below the drought short-
Bureau of Reclamation pro- more than 40 million people age point, Davis said.
jected a 50-50 chance the in cities, farms and tribes in Water banking allows users
lake would fall just below Arizona, California, Colora- to leave some of their wa-
the shortage point of 1,075 do, Nevada, New Mexico, ter in Lake Mead for later
feet (330 meters) above Utah and Wyoming. Mexi- use, with restrictions.
sea level. co also gets a share. Combined, conservation
Under interstate agree- Conservation and water- and water banking have
ments governing the river’s banking programs involv- added about 10 feet (3
use, a shortage declaration ing Mexico, California, meters) to the lake level.q

In this July 17, 2014, photo, rec-
reational boaters ride along in
Lake Mead in the Lake Mead
National Recreation Area in
Nevada. U.S. water manag-
ers say there will be no water
cutbacks in 2018 for millions of
residents and farmers served
by the Lake Mead reservoir on
the Colorado River because
of heavy snowfall last winter.
(AP Photo/John Locher)

By KEN RITTER
DAN ELLIOTT
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Heavy
winter snows in the Rocky
Mountains have rescued
the thirsty Western U.S. for
another year.
U.S. water managers said
Tuesday there will be no
water cutbacks in 2018 for
millions of residents and
farmers served by the Lake
Mead reservoir on the Col-
orado River that lies behind
the Hoover Dam.
“The projection indicates
there is no chance of short-
age in 2018,” said Rose Da-
vis, spokeswoman for the
U.S. Bureau of Reclama-
tion. “Zero.”
January water levels are
expected to be 8 feet (2.5
meters) above the point
that triggers a drought-
shortage declaration on
the lake, according to a
24-month projection by
the water system manage-
ment agency.
“That’s good news for ev-
erybody in the basin,” said
Chuck Cullom, manager of
Colorado River programs
for the Central Arizona
Project, which uses water
from the river.
The Arizona system serves a
heavily populated region
that includes the state’s
largest cities: Phoenix, Tuc-
son and Mesa. The project
would be among the first
hit by cutbacks in the event