States propose cuts as Lake Mead and Powell stand at 27 and 23 percent full

Lake Mead stood at 27 percent of capacity and Lake Powell at 23 percent as of July 11, 2026, according to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation data reported by Newsweek. Those figures equal 46 percent and 34 percent of the average storage recorded for that date.

Arizona, California and Nevada proposed a short-term plan to conserve up to 1 million acre-feet through 2028. Combined with previously announced reductions by the three states and Mexico, the total savings would reach 3.2 million acre-feet. Under the proposal Arizona and Nevada would each reduce use by roughly one-third of their annual Lake Mead entitlements, while California would cut use by about 13 percent.

In June the Bureau of Reclamation and agencies in Arizona, Nevada and California signed a memorandum of understanding at the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant to study interstate exchanges of desalinated or recycled water. The agreement does not change existing water rights or commit parties to any project.

The Bureau of Land Management approved a plan to convert a former oil-and-gas pipeline to carry groundwater from the Mojave Desert.

The agency determined the conversion would not affect the environment and placed groundwater impacts outside the scope of its review. Cadiz Inc. states the project could move or store up to 2.5 million acre-feet across the Southwest.

A UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability report found basin states recycled an average of 26 percent of municipal wastewater in 2022. Arizona reused 52 percent, Nevada as much as 85 percent, California 22 percent, New Mexico 18 percent, Colorado 3.6 percent, Wyoming 3.3 percent and Utah less than 1 percent.