reservoir

The Colorado River, which provides water across the Southwest, has lost about 20% of its flow in the last quarter-century, and its depleted reservoirs continue to decline.

In the Sierra Nevada, the snow that blankets the rugged landscape each winter melts and gushes in meadows, streams and rivers, nourishing alpine ecosystems and filling reservoirs.

Among the incident reports shared with the BBC were an occasion when a chemical spilled into a reservoir killing all its fish and which the EA did not attend.

The ongoing water shortage on the Colorado River, where reservoirs are approaching critically low levels, is expected to force additional reductions in water use in the Southwest in the coming years.

Near Las Vegas, Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, is now just 31% full.