The outlook for the most important river in the Southwestern U.S. remains grim this summer after April storms failed to produce much snow in the mountains that feed the waterway, forecasters said Monday. The Colorado River serves about 40 million people and 6,300 square miles (16,300 square kilometers) of farmland in United States and Mexico. Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah all use the river or its tributaries, along with 20 native American reservations. But river valleys in southwestern Colorado ranged from 44 to 56 percent of average at their best. One significant storm hit the Colorado River region in April, but snow fell only at the highest elevations, Smith said.

Source: Fox News May 07, 2018 19:21 UTC