Analogue Point Marina once sat near the shore of Lake Powell, the nation's second largest reservoir.

Instead, the sparkling Colorado River now sits more than 180 feet below, completely invisible from a dock that once floated on top of the water.

A critically important source of water for seven Western states, the Colorado River is running out of water.

The solution, a public lands access group has proposed an ambitious plan to build eight massive desalination plants off the California coastline,

turning ocean water into fresh water for farming and reducing demand on the ailing Colorado River.

Will it work?

Hello, and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Wednesday, March 18, 26.

Join me now to break down the issues and what's at stake is USA Today National Reporter Trevor

It's great to have you here, Trevor.

Yeah, good to be here.

Trevor, let's start by laying out, if you could, the issue for us.

The Colorado River has been a plentiful source of water for the Western U.S. for over a century. Why is this happening and why now?

So the Colorado River supports the economies of seven Western states as it flows downstream.

Would Lake Mead and Lake Powell providing hydropower, but then also water for irrigation, for farming, for growing alfalfa,

for growing all the food that we eat, and for drinking one. And the river is what powers in part

the Western economy. But as climate change makes the area warmer, it's making the area drier. And that

means less and less water falling out of the sky is snow,

which means less water in the Colorado River all year long.

And that means Lake Powell and Lake Mead have been dropping

for quite a long time at this point.

So which seven states are dependent on the river now?

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