Today, as it does every August, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) released data used to determine Colorado River operating conditions for the following year. Thanks to persistent and increasing conservation by water users in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico in addition to a couple of good winters’ snow accumulation in the mountains—crisis-level shortages impacting cities in Arizona and California will be avoided. The “August 2024 Most Probable 24-Month Study” projects that at the end of the year, Lake Mead, the enormous reservoir supplying the southern portions of the Colorado River Basin, will sit at elevation 1062 feet above mean sea level, resulting in “Tier One” shortages and water conservation requirements under the current rules. Without farmers’ as well as some cities’ proactive water conservation measures in the Lower Colorado River Basin, including Mexico, the water surface in the reservoir might have been 25 feet lower, and...