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Lake Powell and Lake Mead could collapse without more water cuts along the Colorado River, a new paper explains

The Salt Lake Tribune · Zak Podmore · last updated

Without significant, permanent cuts to water use in the Colorado River basin, both Lake Powell and Lake Mead may be headed for collapse.

That’s according to a new, peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Science this week that analyzed how current agreements between basin users would fare if the 23-year trend of below-average runoff in the basin continues.

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