Lake Mead could dry up by 2021 amid Western water shortages
SALT LAKE CITY – Seven Western states will face more water shortages in the years ahead as climate change exacerbates the strains drought and a growing population have put on the Colorado River, scientists say. "Clearly we’re on a collision course between supply and demand," said Brad Udall, director of the Western Water Assessment at the University of Colorado. Although there is some disagreement about when the most dire conditions will materialize, scientists at a conference in Salt Lake City said Thursday they expect less water to be available in the coming decades. … Several models by different scientists have made predictions about the future flow of the Colorado, all of which forecast less water, said Tim Barnett, one of the Scripps study’s authors. The prospect of warming temperatures only increases the strain on an already strained system, he said. "The current usage is simply not sustainable," Barnett said.