sources for residents of the
could run dry by 2021 if current trends in water usage and climate change
continue, two researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography said.
Marine physicist Tim Barnett and climate scientist David
Pierce concluded in a study that human factors, including demand for water and
human-caused climate change, combined with natural forces, are contributing to
a loss of nearly one million acre-feet of water every year from the
River
about eight million people if preserved.
The loss of
water could jeopardize the ability of the
system to sustain the population of the Southwest through an unusually dry year
or in the event of a prolonged drought. This would create a highly
unpredictable state of water delivery for the region, Barnett and Pierce said.
Barnett and Pierce expressed deep concern for their
findings, stressing that the reported trends could have severe consequences for
the region.
“We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how
fast it was coming at us,” Barnett said in a statement.