Drought And Climate Change Threaten Colorado River Basin

PAGE, AZ - MARCH 27: Green plant life flourishes among the red Navajo sandstone rock formations above the high water mark, where little grows in the whitened landscape, in Llewellyn Gulch canyon on March 27, 2007 near Page, Arizona. Lake Powell and the next biggest Colorado River reservoir, the nearly 100-year-old Lake Mead, are at the lowest levels ever recorded. Environmentalists have long-lamented the damming of scenic Glen Canyon, the eastern sibling of the Grand Canyon, in the early 1960's to create the 186-mile-long Lake Powell. The US Bureau of Reclamation is evaluating four proposals to manage the drought on the Colorado River which supplies water and power to millions of people in the western states. The bureau has warned that shortages are possible as early as 2010. If the water drops too far, power generators at the dams will become inoperable. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)