The Colorado River is evaporating, and climate change is largely to blame

[hunter]

7. The Colorado River hasn't reached the ocean for a long time.

Urban growth is using water previously diverted for agriculture or landscaping.

As population grows, agriculture has been displaced entirely, or it's become more efficient; dirt canals have been lined, drip irrigation has replaced flooded furrows, etc..

So long as humans have been able to capture 100% of the Colorado River, we've used near 100% of it. Demand can't exceed supply.

How we cope with reduced supply will be interesting politics. Urban users will be the last to suffer. Most of the winter salad crop in the U.S.A. is grown in the desert using Colorado River water. Winter lettuce is likely to get expensive as it will have to be grown in greenhouses or be imported from places where there is water.