Arizona Loses Third of Colorado River Water

The federal government announced Friday that it will cut Arizona's Colorado River supply by about one-third over the next two years, with a full shutoff possible under the worst drought conditions.

The river supplies about 40 percent of the water used by Phoenix, the largest desert metropolis in the United States.

Roughly 40 million people across seven western states depend on the Colorado River.

What It Hits

Arizona's share moves through the Central Arizona Project, a 330-mile aqueduct that serves Phoenix, Tucson, tribes and farms. The water is managed from a secure, windowless control room in northern Phoenix, according to The Boston Globe.

Cave Creek, a town of 5,200, draws 95 percent of its water from the Central Arizona Project.

The Ak-Chin Indian Community, which holds senior water rights and grows crops on 16,000 acres, does not know how it would receive water if the canal loses its full allotment.

The four upper-basin states — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — face no mandatory cuts under the plan.