NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Nightly News Films: Colorado River and Western Megadrought

Episode Date: August 29, 2022

The Colorado River is a 1,400-mile, life-sustaining artery for the American West – supplying water for seven states while generating hydroelectric power for millions. But experts tell NBC News’ Steve Patterson that the river’s power is shrinking. Steve gets exclusive access inside the Glen Canyon Dam as the crisis leads to historic water rationing, and looks into the consequences at the Grand Canyon and beyond.

The boundless beauty of the Colorado River stretches far beyond what first appears surface-deep. It's a 1,400-mile life-sustaining artery, pumping fresh water into the heart of the American West's ecology. And for us humans, it serves as a critical hydropower highway, streaming power generated at Lake Powell all the way to Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir, where excess water is banked in a system that supplies 40 million people in seven states out west. But that power is shrinking. The Colorado River is about 20 percent smaller than it was just 20 years ago. Sinjin Eberle studies the Colorado for the conservation organization American Rivers.

Three of the top 10 largest cities in the nation all get their water from the Colorado River. So that's an amazing amount of impact on a system that's literally getting smaller. Smaller and weaker. Heavy demand from the southwest's exploding population, combined with rapid climate change in the heat of a decades-long mega drought, have plummeted water levels at the two lakes that feed the river. And just to give you a sense of the scope of this crisis, you go back before the drought and where I'm standing right now, I'd be about 40 feet underwater. Right now, both Lake Powell and Lake Mead are nearly three fourths empty and projected to continue dropping. So where exactly are we, Bob? So right now we're

on top of the dam, top of Glen Canyon Dam. We look off to our left is Lake Powell and off to our right is the Colorado River. We were given exclusive access to the Glen Canyon Dam, where water from the lake is released through eight massive turbines. This is the goose that lays the golden egg to the southwest. Generating enough power to electrify millions of homes, businesses, farms, and more than 50 Native American tribes. How much power are we generating right now? Right now we're probably around 400 megawatts.

The ability to produce power is going down as the reservoir is going down. Power manager Bob Martin says the water level at the dam is just 45 feet from dropping below hydropower generation, so critical that for the first time in the dam's history, it's reducing the amount of water released into the Colorado River. Does it feel like you're in a threat zone? It does. We're 22 years into this drought. Nobody ever expected we'd be here this long. We need to start making operational changes. The crisis has led to historic water rationing measures. We really need to reduce the amount of water we're taking out of the Colorado River by, you know, something like 20%

for the long term. Earlier this year, the federal government set a deadline for the seven basin states that surround the river to come up with a voluntary plan to reduce water use. What keeps me up at night is that the states will decide to fight rather than come together and be a unified voice for the entire basin. This month, that nightmare came to life. Instead of working together to solve the problem, the states bickered over dwindling resources, forcing the Bureau of Reclamation to declare a Tier 2 emergency shortage mandating historic water rationing. Starting in January, Arizona will lose 21 percent of its yearly allocation from the river.

Nevada loses 8 percent. Mexico, 7 percent. What is at stake if we don't do that is 40 million people's water availability, a $1.4 trillion economy that is based on the Colorado River, all of that is at risk. And that's an enormous risk to the country, to the world. High above, very little in this world rivals the awe-inspiring splendor of the Grand Canyon. I feel here a sense of the divine, that this place is not an accident. Park Superintendent Ed Keeble says one of the few things more stunning than its vast beauty is the looming threat to the ecology of the river. The fact that it's changing so rapidly for fish is an indicator that there's some stress in the ecosystem that we need to pay attention to. The Colorado stretches 277 miles inside the canyon,

just outside the Glen Canyon Dam. Here, the plummeting water levels at the reservoirs is literally changing the ecosystem inside the park. As the level drops inside Lake Powell, the water that passes through those turbines at Glen Canyon Dam heats up, sending higher temperatures down the Colorado River, reducing the habitat for several native fish while invasive species pass through. Non-native predatory fish like the smallmouth bass are getting closer to the turbines through which the water flows and they're passing into the river at the Grand Canyon. They'll decimate the threatened and endangered population of the humpback chub and the razorback sucker.

Why should we care about, you know, a few species of fish that may be endangered? Because this isn't only about the fish. The fish serve as something of the canary in the coal mine. As their habitats, their environment is changing, it's changing for us as well. It's already having a huge impact on industries like recreation, farming, and fishing. Between 66 and 67 degrees right now. You said that this fishery is on the abyss. How troubling is that for you that's lived here for so long? It's killing me, brother. River fishing guide Dave Foster says the warmer water means the trout he was making a living on have less oxygen and are threatened by those invasive fish.

It's worrisome for me. I've spent my whole life here and it's a recreational opportunity here that that we're on the verge of losing. The crisis creating a domino effect. Right now, the consequences of drought and water shortages are now playing out across the country. 34% of the Midwest is abnormally dry or experiencing drought, 70% of the West is in a moderate drought, and 98% of California is in severe drought. The exceptional heat is also creating mounting pressure on energy grids, meaning filling the falling hydropower void with natural gas, creating more greenhouse gas emissions and an even hotter planet. The lack of water creating an uncertain future for farmers. We're not making money. You know, as a matter of fact, we're losing it and we don't know how long we can hang in there. Third generation Arizona farmer Nancy Kaywood says less than half of her 247 acre farm

is producing crops. My son has got worry lines and bags under his eyes, so do I, because we constantly worry about how we're going to hang in there. Looking for any hint of a solution, we spoke to the Federal Bureau of Reclamation at the head of Power and Water in the West. That's not an easy problem to solve. Regional Bureau Director Katrina Grant says the way forward is still firmly centered on collaboration between the Western states. We really are committed to working closely with the basin states on what they come up with and how we can implement that together. And I firmly believe that a collaborative solution is the best approach. So we are committed to continuing to work together.

But with the crisis deepening by the day and no solid plan on the horizon, the outlook is tough for a region already drying up. A fragile flow on the brink of total collapse. Steve Patterson, NBC News, the Grand Canyon.