"The Trump administration will pull its emergency levers to head off a major water and power crisis."
"Interior said it will cut releases out of one of the river’s two main reservoirs, Lake Powell, to the minimum amount legally allowed — 6 million acre-feet — between now and October. At the same time, it said, it will release as much as a third of the water currently stored in Flaming Gorge Reservoir upstream of Lake Powell over the next year.
The department said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum met with the governors of the seven Western states that share the waterway for a second time Friday to discuss the decision.
“I am grateful for the Governors and their teams working diligently to find a solution to the complex challenges created by these unprecedented drought conditions which require immediate action,” Burgum said in a statement.
The move underscores the dire conditions facing the West’s most important river as a hot, dry winter has shriveled the region’s snowpack just as the current rules governing water-sharing among the states are set to expire."
