An American Water Crisis is Coming.

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=Share_iOSApp_Other 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/article_3ac0c5cf-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/

Fronts Staff • February 26, 2026