The water levels behind the Colorado River’s biggest dams are fast-approaching or already at record lows. The historic megadrought that is squeezing some Western states’ water supplies will also likely start showing up in energy bills, because those dams can’t produce as much electricity.

The Colorado River is tapped out. Another dry year has left the watershed that supplies 40 million people in the Southwest parched. A prolonged 21-year warming and drying trend is pushing the nation's two largest reservoirs to record lows. For the first time, a shortage is expected to be declared by the federal government, this summer.

A new actor has emerged in some water-stressed pockets of the West: the private investor. They are writing big checks in heavily-irrigated farm communities to own water rights. Their presence alone is making people nervous, as lawmakers, local leaders, farmers and water managers try to understand just how these new players plan to profit.

This series was co-reported with Heather Sackett, Aspen Journalism, Bret Jaspers, KJZZ, and Daniel Rothberg, The Nevada Independent.

The Colorado River’s inability to complete its journey from the Rocky Mountains to the Sea of Cortez has become one of its defining characteristics. Its historic delta, a haven for birds and mammals in the Sonoran desert, is a husk of its former self.

Coal-fired power plants are closing, or being given firm deadlines for closure, across the country. In the Western states that make up the overallocated and drought-plagued Colorado River, these facilities use a significant amount of the region's scarce water supplies. With closure dates looming, communities are starting the contentious debate about how this newly freed up water should be put to use.

Montezuma County, Colorado sheriff’s deputy Dave Huhn enforces water law in one the driest reaches of the country. Water law enforcement varies across the West. Water disputes — both violent and nonviolent — will sometimes find their way to the attention of local law enforcement, but due to an ignorance of what the law actually says, many deputies will simply tell the parties to hammer out their differences in state water court.

As the Colorado River basin heats up and dries out like climate projections predict, environmentalists are concerned people will stop thinking of the water that flows to the Ciénega de Santa Clara as waste, find a way to use it and, in turn, harm the unique, accidental wetland.

With a contentious drought plan finished, some tribal leaders say their water rights can’t be ignored any longer, and that it’s irresponsible of Western water leaders to leave them out of large multi-state agreements. A recently finished federal study is amplifying tribes’ call for a seat at the table to negotiate the Colorado River’s future.

Record-breaking wildfires in 2020 turned huge swaths of Western forests into barren burn scars. Those forests store winter snowpack that millions of people rely on for drinking and irrigation water. But with such large and wide-reaching fires, the science on the short-term and long-term effects to the region’s water supplies isn’t well understood.

One of the United States' most important river systems, the Colorado River, is approaching breaking point after suffering through a 22-year megadrought. The river supports urban, rural and first nations communities, agriculture and tourism in Colorado, California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Mexico. Water levels in major storages like Lake Powell and Lake Mead are reaching new lows, and authorities are actively preparing to pump water at 'dead pool' levels. While also preparing to impose harsher water-use restrictions on businesses and residents.

Amid extreme drought and record low water levels in the Colorado Basin, the federal government has decided to retain more water in Lake Powell and release less to Lake Mead and beyond. The action preserves hydropower generation for the short term, but as reporter Luke Runyon explains to Host Steve Curwood, the Colorado River basin still faces a long-term water shortage that imperils the future of cities and farms in the Southwest.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact, an agreement between seven western states that determines how the river’s water is shared. To celebrate, we talked to reporter Luke Runyon, who covered the Colorado River extensively as a reporter for KUNC.

Dry conditions are the worst they’ve been in almost 20 years across the Colorado River watershed, which acts as the drinking and irrigation water supply for 40 million people in the American Southwest. As the latest round of federal forecasts for the river’s flow shows, it’s plausible, maybe even likely, that the situation could get much worse.

The Colorado River that carved the Grand Canyon and now quenches the thirst of much of the American West is parched in a “megadrought.” Two key reservoirs are expected to drop to record low levels this year and trigger a formal water shortage declaration. Reporter Luke Runyon covers the Colorado River Basin and joined Host Steve Curwood from station KUNC in Greeley, Colorado.

After another record-setting hot and dry year in 2020, the western U.S. is now in widespread extreme drought. The nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are dropping to historic lows, putting water supply and the hydropower they generate at risk. Lake Mead has fallen to the lowest level since it was filled in the 1930s after the construction of the Hoover Dam.

“It’s sending a message to the whole basin saying we don't have enough water to meet all of the needs that exist within the basin,” says Colorado journalist Luke Runyon.

Extreme heat and prolonged drought have put an enormous strain on the Colorado River. As a result, the life blood of the Southwest is maxed out. The 40 million people that rely on its waters are now facing pending water shortages and cutbacks. KUNC’s Luke Runyon traveled along the 1,400 miles of the Colorado. He joined The Show to talk about what he discovered.

This summer could be difficult for much of the U.S. The West is in a megadrought that may last decades. That's raising concerns about another major wildfire season, and the warming climate is amplifying those risks everywhere. To learn more, we're joined by three reporters - NPR's Nathan Rott in Southern California, Luke Runyon of KUNC in Colorado and Annie Ropeik of New Hampshire Public Radio.