by Ed Maurer

This catchy phrase goes back to a severe drought in Britain in 1976, and the February 1. 2026, forecast of Colorado River water by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) may just make it popular again in the American West. Because snowpack conditions are so poor throughout the Colorado Basin, the forecast is grimmer by a third than what was expected on January 1, 2026. The newest Water Supply Forecast map shows the details.

Despite this dire situation, the states making up the Colorado River Compact (Upper Basin: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico; Lower Basin: Arizona, California, and Nevada) have been unable to agree on how to handle this dramatic loss of water – dead pool comes to mind -  and thus provide the Federal government with a chance to provide a solution. We can expect this Federal Plan to be the greatest ever designed, so good it will make everybody’s head spin, especially since NOAA lost hundreds of dedicated scientists, meteorologists, and other experts on Trump’s orders. 

Please keep in mind that we use about 17 gallons of water each time we take a shower, and you can halve this water consumption by taking your showers with a friend.