Originally Posted by
Zog
This is less about people than it is about agriculture. 80% of the water from Powell and Mead is managed to support agricultural use in Arizona, California, and Mexico, though the definition of agriculture also includes watering yards. The current drought period is now over 20 years long. The Bureau of Reclamation insists that Powell and Mead are doing their job, which is ensuring stable agricultural water supplies through a drought. It does make things problematic for boaters though. There is currently a big negotiation going on between the Colorado River Users to identify total available supply and redistribute the water. It will be a 20 year legal battle. The governing documents regarding management of the lakes do consider recreation, but they are priority 15, after agriculture, culinary, cultural, wildlife, geology, international agreements, etc. The fact that there are billions of dollars of boats and recreation associated with the lakes doesn't really concern the Bureau.