US Plans Mandated Colorado River Water Cuts to Preserve Dams (1)

The Interior Department is poised to mandate water cuts on the Colorado River to prevent damage to two of the Southwest’s largest hydropower dams in the face of drought, a “dire” scenario the seven river basin states have tried hard to avoid.

Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation issued its draft environmental review of possible ways the agency will go about cutting Colorado River water use to protect Hoover and Glen Canyon dams on lakes Mead and Powell from low reservoir levels.

The agency is hoping states will come to an agreement for water cuts so the Interior Department won’t have to ...