The Colorado River fills America’s salad bowl.It’s a vital source of water to Yuma County, Arizona, which grows 90% of the leafy greens the country consumes in the winter — but it’s nearing a crisis point.With the river’s water levels at record lows, Arizona is poised to take the biggest cuts: about 30% of its Colorado River supply in 2027 and 2028.Those are the terms stipulated by the Bureau of Reclamation, which imposed a mandatory two-year plan after the seven states that use Colorado River water failed to reach an agreement.
If the megadrought persists and water levels continue to fall, a 10-year management plan the bureau has proposed would allow even harsher cuts that could threaten the country’s winter greens.“If you cut us off at the knees, or if you restrict the water, it has a national impact,” said Jonathan Lines, a member of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors.“It’s a national security issue and a food security issue.”Arizona’s agriculture is one rather large ripple of the Colorado River crisis, whose full scale is almost impossible to grasp.
About 40 million people in Western states rely on the river for drinking water, but it is shrinking from overuse, drought and climate change.Utilities also depend on it to generate electricity at the dams on Lake Mead and Lake Powell, where much of the water is stored, but both reservoirs hit record lows this month.The Colorado River flows past farmland near Yuma, Ariz., in 2023.Mario Tama / Getty Images fileArizona has boomed for decades on the back of the river, which has fueled both suburban expansion and high-tech desert farming.
But as the cuts begin to reshape its agricultural economy, the state sits at a crossroads.‘The sunniest place on Earth’Winter produce thrives in Yuma County, which is a little bigger than the state of Connecticut, because of its fertile soil, ample sunshine and Colorado River water.In winter, nowhere else in the country has what it takes.“It’s the su...