Colorado Running Low.
We had a couple of good water years in the Colorado River Basin but we are still coming off a 5-year drought. Even though we had a positive start to the 2006 water year (which begins October 1) Lake Powell will wind up with less than 75 percent of its normal runoff - and could still go lower - because of a warmer and drier than normal spring in the upper Colorado River Basin.

As of mid-June, Lake Powell's overall water level stood at 51 percent of capacity. And the drought in the Colorado River Basin may not be over—in spite of a couple of good years. It's common to have one or two above-average years in a multi-year drought.