{"id":1957,"date":"2026-06-12T16:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957"},"modified":"2026-06-12T16:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:05:11","slug":"study-indicates-colorado-river-water-storage-system-may-crash-without-wet-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957","title":{"rendered":"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 A recent study found if Arizona gets another dry winter, we could be in trouble when it comes to our water supply.<\/p>\n

Read more Hot car safety: What to never leave inside<\/a><\/p>\n

According to , Arizona is likely to hit what researchers are calling a \u201csystem crash\u201d in the Colorado River basin storage system. This comes as the supply of that river water is dwindling, and the states who rely on it, including Arizona, can\u2019t come up with an agreement to split it up in the future.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
READ MORE: Federal officials draft Colorado River plan as states miss deadline for long-term deal<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The team of experts, including one from Arizona State University, looked at two different scenarios: what would happen if we get a wet winter, and what would happen if we don\u2019t?<\/p>\n

Meteorologists are predicting an active El Ni\u00f1o season, but if it doesn\u2019t pull through, the study finds the Colorado River water storage system is at risk of crashing.<\/p>\n

Kathryn Sorensen, the director of research for ASU\u2019s Kyl Center for Water Policy, took part in the study. She told Arizona\u2019s Family water would still be in the reservoirs, but because the federal government has to keep water levels at a certain level to protect critical infrastructure, the only water released would be what we\u2019re getting from Mother Nature in real time.<\/p>\n

Sorensen said the federal government would then have to severely cut water deliveries, which is why researchers are calling it a crash. The impact would largely be on agricultural users in central Arizona, like farmers, Sorensen said, which could lead to a further divide between urban and rural communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to start taking a look at the major water users of the basin, and that\u2019s agriculture, she said. \u201dBut politically, that\u2019s just really tough to do.” <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause American farmers are the backbone of our rural communities, Sorensen added. \u201dThey grow important crops. In Yuma they\u2019re growing winter vegetables that we all like to eat.”<\/p>\n

Going forward she predicts we\u2019ll have to make some touch choices and tradeoffs in terms of how we use our water, and it\u2019s helpful to give elected officials the space and grace to make them. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump administration\u2019s plan for DC arch involves year-round work at 20 hours a day<\/a><\/p>\n

This comes as Lake Mead has dropped to near-historic lows. About 40% of our water in Arizona comes from the Colorado River and is delivered from that reservoir. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Lake Mead is at about 1,050 feet. Dead pool is considered 895 feet. <\/p>\n

Dead pool means the water level in a reservoir has dropped so low nothing flows out of it. Rural areas, tribes and other cities are also dependent on hydropower, so as water levels decline, so does our ability to produce power for those communities. That could have severe economic consequences, according to Sorensen.<\/p>\n

She thinks it\u2019s unlikely that we\u2019ll hit dead pool. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the Bureau of Reclamation is going to allow that to happen,\u201d Sorensen said. \u201cBut in order to prevent that, they will have to impose potentially very deep cuts in here in the lower basin and potentially in the upper basin as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

She said authorities could release less water from lakes Powell and Mead. Taps won\u2019t run dry, but Valley cities would have to fall back on groundwater and other supplies. Sorensen contends we have to be careful about saving that for generations to come.<\/p>\n

For months, other water policy experts have also said Arizona can expect higher water bills in the future.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Additional juvenile charged in ambush attack at party in Surprise<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meteorologists are predicting an active El Ni\u00f1o season, which is needed to lower the risk of the Colorado River water storage system crashing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nStudy indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meteorologists are predicting an active El Ni\u00f1o season, which is needed to lower the risk of the Colorado River water storage system crashing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T16:05:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T16:05:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957\"},\"wordCount\":671,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957\",\"name\":\"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter - Tucson Moving Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T16:05:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1957#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tucson Moving Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter - Tucson Moving Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter - Tucson Moving Report","og_description":"Meteorologists are predicting an active El Ni\u00f1o season, which is needed to lower the risk of the Colorado River water storage system crashing.","og_url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957","og_site_name":"Tucson Moving Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-12T16:05:11+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"headline":"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter","datePublished":"2026-06-12T16:05:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957"},"wordCount":671,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957","name":"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter - Tucson Moving Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-12T16:05:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/65c279fdb6b69cfad470368a1dafb32b.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1957#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Study indicates Colorado River water storage system may \u2018crash\u2019 without wet winter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/","name":"Tucson Moving Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}