The mighty Colorado River in the Southwest that carved the Grand Canyon is completely dry in Southern California. This "other" Colorado provides water for 25 million people in 7 states. The cities of Las Vegas, Lake Havasu, Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles and San Diego are dependent on its waters.

The two main reservoirs on the river, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are only half full and forecast never to be full again. The Scripps Institution recently did a modeling of Lake Mead. There is a 50% chance it will be dry by 2021 and a 10% chance it will run out of usable water by 2014.

"We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it was coming at us," said marine physicist Tim Barnett. "Make no mistake, this water problem is not a scientific abstraction, but rather one that will impact each and every one of us that live in the Southwest."

The flow of the "other" Colorado was seriously misjudged 80 years ago. Planning was not adjusted as changes occurred. Our world is changing rapidly. Water management practices based on normal today will increasingly be wrong tomorrow.

If Lake Mead water levels drop below 1,000 feet, Nevada will lose all its water allocation. Arizona would lose much of the water that flows through the Central Arizona Project Canal. Power production would cease.

Desalination plants are going in all over the California coastline. Las Vegas is looking at property in Mexico for a desalination plant.

San Diego calls their reuse campaign, "Toilet to Tap". Orange County outside Los Angeles is already drinking their treated wastewater.

The Southwest has begun to conserve. It has to. Los Angeles water usage is an incredible 125 gallons per person per day (GPCD). Tucson is at 114 GPCD. Compare this to Austin's embarrassing 172 GPCD and Round Rock's unbelievable 206 GPCD. (The more industrial the city and hotter the climate, the higher the GPCD. What happened to Round Rock?)

Recreation on these lakes has come to a standstill. This could happen to Lake Travis. Marinas would have to move--many already are. Walkways would get really long. You cannot launch a boat off a cliff. Ramps would be useless.

The Legislature needs to react to our State water planning before we are "stunned at the magnitude of the problem."