In US West, drought pits farms against towns, industry in scramble for water

By Rebecca Noble and Andrew Hay

CASA GRANDE, Arizona/TAOS, New Mexico, July 15 (Reuters) - In Arizona, dead fish lie in the dry bed of a reservoir. To the north, a small Utah town could run out of water in months. And in Colorado, a rancher has sold a fifth of her herd as stock ponds stand empty.

The communities are linked by the Colorado River system, which supplies water to about 40 million people across seven Western states and Mexico and irrigates millions of acres of farmland. Decades of drought, compounded by this year's record-low winter snowpack and the hottest March on record, have deepened shortages across the basin.

The drought is pitting farmers against residents of cities and suburbs as well as industrial users including data centers, solar projects and semiconductor plants. Federal officials are considering steep cuts in water allotted from the Colorado River to Arizona, California and Nevada.

Near Casa Grande in central Arizona, farmer Nancy Caywood must pay a $21,000 annual fee to her local water district even though river water ran out in March.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-us-west-drought-pits-farms-against-towns-industry-in-scramble-for-water/ar-AA27XqO0