Within two years, by 2023, ongoing drought in the Western U.S. could impact the ability of a major Arizona powerplant to supply electricity to millions of people across seven states, says the U.S. Bureau of Land Reclamation.
The projection comes as the U.S. Energy Dept.'s Energy Information Administration points to the worsening drought in its short term energy outlook that expects domestic hydropower output to fall 14% this year over 2020, with a 12% drop seen in the Columbia River Basin and several other states, and a 49% decline expected in California