--- title: An American Water Crisis is Coming. description: "America’s West is running out of water. As the Colorado River dries up and states miss critical deadlines, political deadlock and drought threaten cities, farms, and millions of lives. References https://www.dw.com/en/water-conflict-scarcity-upper-basin-lower-basin-drought-agriculture-california-rights-allocation/a-74468546 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/13/colorado-river-crucial-deadline?CMP=ShareiOSAppOther https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2026/02/18/colorado-river-basin-states-missed-deadline-federal-solution https://apnews.com/article/colorado-river-arizona-california-nevada-water-45daf816feba9004c389dc4a09ef01c8 https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-02-13/states-miss-colorado-river-deadline https://aspenjournalism.org/colorado-has-big-dreams-to-use-more-water-from-the-colorado-river-but-will-planned-reservoirs-ever-be-built/ https://fooddigital.com/news/water-scarcity-crisis-colorado-river-basin https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/opinion/water-shortage-colorado-river.html https://coloradosun.com/2026/01/28/colorado-water-officials-grim-drought-forecasts-reservoir/ https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/08/12/a-paradigm-shift-on-the-colorado-river-is-the-only-way-to-confront-the-water-crisis/ https://www.kunc.org/news/2025-08-15/the-colorado-river-is-in-a-shortage-again-amid-mounting-calls-for-long-term-changes https://tucson.com/news/local/environment/article3ac0c5cf-15e9-4c68-9ca1-80896f335e77.html https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/crmlgpnnzyxo https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/climate/snow-drought-colorado-river-negotiations https://lakepowellchronicle.com/stories/interior-department-advances-colorado-river-guidelines-despite-state-deadlock,100296 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/climate/colorado-river-cooperation-missed-deadline.html https://www.denverpost.com/2026/02/17/colorado-river-negotiations-missed-deadline-lake-powell/ https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/18/lake-powell-forecast-critical-lows-federal-study/ https://www.kunc.org/news/2025-08-15/the-colorado-river-is-in-a-shortage-again-amid-mounting-calls-for-long-term-changes https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/12/22/colorado-river-water-crisis/ https://iee.psu.edu/news/blog/colorado-river-crisis-water-shortages-climate-change-and-sustainable-management https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2023/02/28/colorado-river/ https://www.landdesk.org/p/the-colorado-river-crisis-is-here https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-coming-failure-of-glen-canyon-dam/ https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/75/8/607/8114603?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://www.audubon.org/news/who-gets-harmed-colorado-river-changes https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70245409 https://news.darden.virginia.edu/2024/08/26/researchers-urge-closing-outdated-water-rule-to-aid-colorado-river-crisis/ https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-river-water-shortage-jay-famiglietti https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01291-0 https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/05/how-might-we-save-the-colorado-river/" url: https://fronts.co/videos/homefronts-cmwicg-7rdo.md canonical: https://fronts.co/videos/homefronts-cmwicg-7rdo/ datePublished: 2026-02-26T18:30:53.000Z dateModified: 2026-02-26T18:30:53.000Z author: - name: Fronts Staff url: https://fronts.co/authors/fronts-team/ publisher: Fronts type: NewsArticle language: en access: members isAccessibleForFree: false tokens: 781 --- America’s West is running out of water. As the Colorado River dries up and states miss critical deadlines, political deadlock and drought threaten cities, farms, and millions of lives. References https://www.dw.com/en/water-conflict-scarcity-upper-basin-lower-basin-drought-agriculture-california-rights-allocation/a-74468546 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/13/colorado-river-crucial-deadline?CMP=ShareiOSAppOther https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2026/02/18/colorado-river-basin-states-missed-deadline-federal-solution https://apnews.com/article/colorado-river-arizona-california-nevada-water-45daf816feba9004c389dc4a09ef01c8 https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-02-13/states-miss-colorado-river-deadline https://aspenjournalism.org/colorado-has-big-dreams-to-use-more-water-from-the-colorado-river-but-will-planned-reservoirs-ever-be-built/ https://fooddigital.com/news/water-scarcity-crisis-colorado-river-basin https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/opinion/water-shortage-colorado-river.html https://coloradosun.com/2026/01/28/colorado-water-officials-grim-drought-forecasts-reservoir/ https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/08/12/a-paradigm-shift-on-the-colorado-river-is-the-only-way-to-confront-the-water-crisis/ https://www.kunc.org/news/2025-08-15/the-colorado-river-is-in-a-shortage-again-amid-mounting-calls-for-long-term-changes https://tucson.com/news/local/environment/article3ac0c5cf-15e9-4c68-9ca1-80896f335e77.html https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/crmlgpnnzyxo https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/climate/snow-drought-colorado-river-negotiations https://lakepowellchronicle.com/stories/interior-department-advances-colorado-river-guidelines-despite-state-deadlock,100296 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/climate/colorado-river-cooperation-missed-deadline.html https://www.denverpost.com/2026/02/17/colorado-river-negotiations-missed-deadline-lake-powell/ https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/18/lake-powell-forecast-critical-lows-federal-study/ https://www.kunc.org/news/2025-08-15/the-colorado-river-is-in-a-shortage-again-amid-mounting-calls-for-long-term-changes https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/12/22/colorado-river-water-crisis/ https://iee.psu.edu/news/blog/colorado-river-crisis-water-shortages-climate-change-and-sustainable-management https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2023/02/28/colorado-river/ https://www.landdesk.org/p/the-colorado-river-crisis-is-here https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-coming-failure-of-glen-canyon-dam/ https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/75/8/607/8114603?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://www.audubon.org/news/who-gets-harmed-colorado-river-changes https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70245409 https://news.darden.virginia.edu/2024/08/26/researchers-urge-closing-outdated-water-rule-to-aid-colorado-river-crisis/ https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-river-water-shortage-jay-famiglietti https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01291-0 https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/05/how-might-we-save-the-colorado-river/ --- Full analysis is behind the paywall. Read the gated piece at https://fronts.co/videos/homefronts-cmwicg-7rdo/.