Drought Apocalypse Approaches As The Colorado River Basin Dries Up (EL NINO MAY BE FADING)

Scientists on Thursday released the results of a first-of-its-kind study that finds the seven states of the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin are depleting groundwater reserves at a rapid rate. That threatens the future of a river that supplies water to 40 million people and irrigates 4 million acres of farmland.

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and NASA analyzed data from a satellite that measures underground water reserves to calculate that the Colorado River Basin has lost 65 cubic kilometers—that’s 17.3 trillion gallons—of water between December 2004 and November 2013. That represents twice the capacity of the United States’ largest reservoir, Lake Mead in Nevada. Most worrying, 75 percent of the loss came from groundwater supplies.

WITH EL NINO NOW AT 65% DOWN FROM 75% WILL THE WINTER START TO TURN DRY? I ADDED GRAPHICS AND MORE OF THE STORY IN THE LINK IF YOU NEED MORE.

[link to liveweatherblogs.com]