Arizona water officials have invested $30 million in efforts to help keep Lake Mead from reaching critical levels.
The state Department of Water Resources will work with communities that hold rights to the Colorado River to keep more water in the reservoir. The program is similar to measures contained in the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan signed by Arizona and six other western states.
Lake Mead has been declining since it was last full in 2000 as a result of over-allocation and climate-change-induced drought. In August, the federal government declared the first-ever shortage of the Colorado River triggering water cuts to Arizona farmers.