The Colorado River, which serves 40 million people, has been losing water for decades due to global warming and excessive use. This past winter was unusually warm, leading to a lack of snow in the mountains where the river begins, leading for less water to melt into the river. This has exacerbated a heat wave that will quickly eliminate what little snow there is. The states along the river are struggling to share this resource, which has decreased by 20% since the turn of the century. The final arbiter in this conflict might be a federal government that refuses to acknowledge climate change. Lake Powell, the main reservoir near the border between the upper and lower basins, will receive just 52% of its usual inflow from snowmelt this year, a potential disaster for the lower-basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada.