LOS ANGELES (NewsNation) — A water crisis is brewing in the West.
For more than 70 years, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been developing on the Colorado River —finding new ways to help it deliver water from its origin in Colorado down to California.
But years of drought, over-reliance on the river, and climate change have only elevated the problem.
Now, the federal government has issued a warning to seven western states who rely on the Colorado River for water now that it dropped to historic lows. They’re asking these states and their water distributions to find ways they can save the river before it completely dries up.
Around four million acre-feet of water will need to be scaled back from the current supply because there’s just not enough to deliver to everyone. To put that into perspective: one acre-foot of water is enough to put an entire football field under a foot of water.
At this point, no ideas are off the table. Nevada has banned using real grass in office parks and street meridians. San Diego built a one billion dollar desalination plant — which removes salt and bacteria from seawater and converts it to drinking water.
The Biden administration earmarked $8.3 billion through the infrastructure plan just to help solve this water crisis.