Water-Rationing Worry Haunts US West With 40 Million at Risk (1)

The federal government this week will announce the drought forecast for the arid Colorado River Basin, as well as possible cuts western states must make to conserve more water from a supply serving roughly 40 million people.

The Bureau of Reclamation Tuesday will issue its projection for conditions over the next two years in the West’s most important water supply—and the news is expected to be bleak.

The Colorado River Basin for the past 20 years has experienced worsening drought, with record low water levels right now, as the seven states in the Colorado River Compact — Colorado, Arizona, California, ...