Water forecasts for the Colorado River system are way down this year

The prediction is for a drop of 2.6 million acre feet.

The largest single water user on the Colorado River, the Imperial Irrigation District in southeast California, diverted 2.9 million acre feet from the river at Imperial Dam in 2011. Arizona’s entire consumptive use was 2.7 million acre feet.

Astonishing, isn’t it, that agriculture in California uses more river water than Arizona. The water system for the southwest and west is broken, unsustainable, and everyone knows it, even if many pretend they don’t.