Overallocation and climate change could dry up Colorado River Reservoirs by 2057 according to a new University of Colorado study. The Colorado River provides water for approximately 27 million people. If there were only a 10% reduction in flow there would be a 25% chance of depletion and a 20% reduction in flow would increase this risk to 50%. The risk described in the study is quite small in the near term but in the not too distant future the risk looms large. Currently, reservoirs such as Lake Powell and Lake Mead provide cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas with water. Due to a prolonged drought the reservoirs are only about half full. Its clear that some innovative policy making needs to occur now if catastrophic water shortages are to be averted.