How many states use water from the Colorado River?

The Colorado River flows for approximately 1,450 miles and provides water to seven states in the Western U.S. that are part of the Colorado River Basin. Divided into two regions; the Upper Basin includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and the Lower Basin includes Arizona, California, and Nevada.



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The mighty Colorado River serves 40 million people in seven states and two states in Mexico. It also irrigates 5.5 million agricultural acres of land, including 15% of American agriculture and about 90% of the nation's winter vegetables.

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About 85–90 percent of the Colorado River's discharge originates in melting snowpack from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. The three major upper tributaries of the Colorado – the snow-fed Gunnison, Green, and San Juan – alone deliver almost 9 million acre-feet (11 km3) per year to the main stem.

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Only about 10 percent of all the water that flows into the Colorado River makes it into Mexico and most of that is used by the Mexican people for farming.

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Three states — Arizona, California and Nevada — have agreed on a plan to conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water by 2026 — roughly the equivalent to the amount of water it would take to fill 6 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

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What happens if Lake Mead dries up forever? If Lake Mead were to run out of water, the Hoover Dam would no longer be able to generate power or provide water to surrounding cities and farms. The Colorado River would essentially stop flowing, and the Southwest would be in a major water crisis.

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Climate change, a rising population, and unsustainable consumption of water in the southwest are threatening the very existence of the Colorado River that's been running through the center of the Grand Canyon for six million years.

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About the Colorado River There is a Colorado River that flows through Arizona, Utah, and other western states. Ours is the “other” Colorado River—the Texas Colorado River. But here, we just call it the “Colorado River.”

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