More than half of Colorado River's water used to irrigate crops, assessment shows

Irrigation for agriculture uses more than half of the Colorado River's total annual water flow, reports a paper published in Communications Earth & Environment. This finding is part of a new comprehensive assessment of how the Colorado River's water is consumed—including both human usage and natural losses—and provides a more complete understanding of how the river's water is used along its over 2,300 km (almost 1,500-mile) length.