Lake Powell

Climate experts say all the snow and rain over the winter helped alleviate dry conditions in many parts of the West. But it's nowhere near enough to unravel the long-term effects of a stubborn drought.

The Bureau of Reclamation is responding to a request from Utah and its neighbors and suspending the releases from the 3rd-largest reservoir on the Colorado River that were propping up Lake Powell.

The System Conservation Pilot Program was recently rebooted with $125 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to fight shrinking water levels in Lake Powell.

Arizona, California and Nevada agree in principle with the idea, but urge other states and the Bureau of Reclamation to keep an eye on runoff.

Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico are asking the Bureau of Reclamation to pause the water releases from Flaming Gorge Reservoir that are helping prop up Lake Powell.

The Bureau of Reclamation is scrambling to keep hydropower generators running in Glen Canyon Dam.

Water officials across the West have been negotiating a crisis on the Colorado River. Drought is putting pressure on the 7-state basin, and the nation’s two largest reservoirs recently reached record lows.

Snow data from the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center shows a strong start for the region's water supplies, but heavy snow may get soaked up by dry soils before it can flow into Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

While the states missed a mid-August deadline to heed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's call to conserve 2 million to 4 million acre-feet, they regrouped to reach consensus by the end of January.

Climate scientists warn, however, that it will take more than one wet winter to end the West's drought and the strain on the Colorado River.

Officials from Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are focusing this week on how to use at least 15% less water next year, or have restrictions imposed on them by the federal government.

As drought and steady demand shrink the Colorado River and Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam faces an existential threat. It's a rare example of the Southwest's water crisis made visible.