Summers here and so our worries about water out west.

From Marketplace, I'm Nova Saffo. Good morning.

A new U.S. Department of Interior Report confirms what many already feared.

The Colorado River system, which pumps out water to 40 million people in seven western states, is looking grim.

It was already depleted from drought and a dry winter

out west brought little snow to replenish it. There's concern now for hydropower, the structural

integrity of major dams, and for keeping taps flowing in Phoenix, Tucson, and elsewhere.

Marketplaces Caitlin Tan has more. Kyle Rorink just finished looking through the latest federal report.

This is the scariest thing I have ever seen in terms of Colorado River projections.

He's with the Great Basin Water Network, a water conservation group.

This is unprecedented. I can't stress that enough.

And if the West has another mild winter, Jack Schmidt, who heads up Colorado River research at Utah State.

Draconian steps will have to be taken to further reduce water consumption.

That could mean less water for golf courses in Phoenix.

More people in Vegas ticketed for

overwatering their lawns. But Schmidt says the bulk of cutbacks has to come from agriculture.

That keeps it from being a catastrophe. Nearly three quarters of water goes to irrigation.

You hate to tell farmers what to grow and what

not to grow. They call this crop shaming in particular with respect to alfalfa.

Brad Udall is a water and climate scientist with Colorado State.

Logically, one way it works is a infusion of dollars.

A coalition of conservation groups, tribes, and other stakeholders is asking Congress for $2 billion

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