Running Dry: The fight for the West's dwindling water supply | 60 Minutes Archive

Name: Running Dry: The fight for the West's dwindling water supply | 60 Minutes Archive
Uploaded: 2026-08-13T20:16:10.000Z
Duration: 13 min 17 s
Channel: 60 Minutes

60 MinutesAugust 13, 202613m

Topics14

California Drought Emergency and Colorado River Shortage0:02 The Colorado River System and Reservoirs0:31 Lake Powell and Lake Mead Water Levels1:31 Brad Udall Background and Climate Change Impact2:30 Agricultural Water Use and Mandatory Cutbacks3:31 Warren Watkins Water Supply Impact4:30 Colorado River Indian Tribes Water Rights6:01 Law of the River and State Allocations7:00 Washington County Utah Water System7:32 Utah Pipeline Proposal8:30 California Imperial Irrigation District Perspective9:30 Law of the River Problems10:30 Colorado River Indian Tribes Conservation Agreement11:30 Agricultural Impact and Future Outlook12:31

In a Nutshell

The Colorado River is running critically low after 22 years of severe drought, pushing the two largest reservoirs (Lake Powell and Lake Mead) to just 30% capacity and triggering mandatory water cutbacks across seven states. Agriculture, which uses 70% of the river's water, is bearing the brunt of cuts—farmers in Arizona like Warren Watkins are losing 70% of their supply, forcing them to leave fields fallow. The outdated "Law of the River" over-allocates more water than flows, and without major demand reductions, cities and farms face escalating shortages in a hotter, drier future.

AI-Generated Notes

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This past week, California declared a statewide drought emergency. It follows the first ever federal shortage declaration on the Colorado River, triggering cuts to water supplies in the Southwest. The Colorado is the lifeblood of the region. It waters some of the country's fastest growing cities, nourishes some of our most fertile fields, and powers 1.4 trillion dollar in annual economic activity. The river runs more than 1,400 miles from headwaters in the Rockies to its delta in northern Mexico where it ends in a trickle. Seven states and 30 Native American tribes lie in the Colorado River Basin. Lately, the river has been running dry due to the historically severe drought.

The majestic meandering Colorado River that cut through these red cliffs carving the Grand Canyon is a wonder of nature and human ingenuity. The Glen Canyon Dam created Lake Powell and 300 miles down river, Lake Mead sits behind the Hoover Dam. These reservoirs are now being sucked dry by 40 million different straws. That's the number of people in booming western states who depend on the Colorado to quench their thirst, power their homes, water lawns, and splash in the sun. Its waters irrigate farms that produce 90% of the country's winter greens. To all these demands, add the stress of a 22-year drought, as dry as any period in 1,200 years, and you have a river in crisis.

These white bathtub rings, is this where the water used to be? Absolutely. Brad Udall, a climate scientist at Colorado State University, went out on Lake Powell with us. So, all of this would have been underwater. Yeah. So, what does this tell you about what's happening on the Colorado River? Well, it's a signal of the long-term problem we've been seeing since the year 2000, which is climate change is reducing the flows of the Colorado significantly. Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the two biggest reservoirs in the country, were nearly full in 2000. Today, they are at just about 30% capacity. The lake's now 155 feet below full. It's dropped something like 50 feet this year. And it's still dropping. Yes. And that's when power generation actually becomes to come into question. It'll drop so low that it may not be able to generate hydroelectric power.

Brad Udall has strong connections to the river. As Secretary of the Interior, his uncle Stewart Udall opened the Glen Canyon Dam. His father, Congressman Mo Udall, fought to channel river water to Arizona. 100 yards. As a young man, Brad was a Colorado river guide. Today, he analyzes the impact of climate change on water resources. Is the West on a collision course with climate change? In some ways, yes. But we have fully utilized this system. We've overallocated it and we now need to think about how to turn some of this back because the only lever we control right now in the river is the demand lever. We have no control over the supply. So, we have to dial back demand.

70% of Colorado River water goes to agriculture. When the federal government declared the water shortage, it triggered mandatory cutbacks. Pinal County, Arizona got hit hard. Pinal County alone, we're going to be losing 300,000 acre feet of surface water. That's water that would be delivered from Lake Powell, Lake Mead as part of the Colorado River. 300,000 acre feet is 98 billion gallons of water. Warren Watkins farms 500 acres in Pinal County, south of Phoenix. His family has tilled soil here for four generations. It's some of the most productive land in the state. Crops from Pinal County are shipped all over the country. Watkins grows gourds, cotton, and alfalfa. Profitable but thirsty crops. And his allotment of Colorado River water is being cut by 70%.

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Running Dry: The fight for the West's dwindling water supply | 60 Minutes Archive

California Drought Emergency and Colorado River Shortage00:02

The Colorado River System and Reservoirs00:31

Lake Powell and Lake Mead Water Levels01:31

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