Colorado River crisis threatens power and water supply for Western US.

The Colorado River, which provides water for 40 million people, is facing a megadrought worsened by climate change, population growth, and energy demand. The two largest reservoirs in the US, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have hit record lows, and hydroelectric power production has dwindled. The drought threatens to undo what made the West appealing, with triple-digit summer weather and little water to cool off. The vanishing water, rising temperatures, and growing thirst could turn the river into a fragmented skeleton of its former self, and farms, businesses, and industries that rely on its bounty would sputter to a halt.