Which state uses the most water from the Colorado River?

California — with the largest allocation of water from the river — is the lone holdout. Officials said the state would release its own plan. The Colorado River and its tributaries pass through seven states and into Mexico, serving 40 million people and a $5 billion-a-year agricultural industry.



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Agriculture uses approximately 80% of the Colorado River's water, using it to irrigate 15% of the nation's farmland, and produce 90% of the winter vegetables.

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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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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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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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The three “Lower Basin” states also receive 7.5 million acre-feet. Of that, California has the right to take up to 4.4 million acre-feet from the river each year; because they have the oldest legal rights to the river, Californians are also the last to see cuts during drought.

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The Colorado River is an important water resource for areas outside of the basin, including Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, and San Diego for public (municipal) supply, and the Imperial Valley in California for agricultural water supplies.

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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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Central Arizona's water supply comes from three main sources — the Colorado River, the Salt and Verde River systems, and groundwater.

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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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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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The Colorado River is a critical resource in the West, because seven basin states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) depend on it for water supply, hydropower production, recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and other benefits.

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In the years after his visit, the river was dammed and its waters were sent flowing in canals to farms and cities. For decades, so much water has been diverted that the river seldom meets the sea. Much of the delta has shriveled to stretches of dry riverbed, with only small remnants of its wetlands surviving.

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The water flows through and turns the turbines and then flows out into the Colorado River. Because the water intake is significantly below the surface of Lake Powell, the water coming out of the outflow is significantly colder than surface temperatures.

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The Colorado River is drying up due to a combination of chronic overuse of water resources and a historic drought. The dry period has lasted more than two decades, spurred by a warming climate primarily due to humans burning fossil fuels.

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Key Points. Lake Mead has dropped by 70% due to droughts in the West and it will take many years to refill again, naturally. The reservoir is vitally important to millions of people as a source of water, electricity, and recreation.

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